Arthur Cox today announces the appointment of Kathleen Garrett as Head of its London office.

Kathleen takes over from Mark Saunders who has headed up the London office for the last 3½ years. Mark will remain active in the London market in support of Kathleen and her team but will increasingly base his practice in Dublin.

As Head of the London office, Kathleen will also assume a seat on the Management Committee.

Kathleen joined Arthur Cox as a trainee in 1987. She qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and was elected as a Partner in 1998. Kathleen has a strong finance practice with an emphasis on domestic and cross border finance transactions and financial services. She has advised on a number of high profile transactions including the establishment of one of the first internet only banks, first-e, and the restructuring of IWP International plc. Kathleen is also highly experienced in the field of corporate recovery and debt restructuring.

Pádraig Ó Ríordáin, Managing Partner of Arthur Cox said: "We are delighted with Kathleen’s appointment. She will be pivotal in continuing to develop our UK-based relationships and supporting client transactions with a UK element. Her extensive experience in the financial services sector is particularly valuable at this time."

Arthur Cox was brought in by the Irish Government last September to advise on the Irish banks recovery plan. This has subsequently involved advising the Irish Minister for Finance on the recapitalisation of Allied Irish Banks plc and Bank of Ireland as well as on the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank Corporation plc.

Arthur Cox was recently confirmed as Ireland’s leading M&A adviser for the third consecutive year. According to the Mergermarket league tables for 2008, Arthur Cox advised on 30 Irish M&A deals with a combined value of €6.6bn.