David Carthy

Overview

David Carthy is a corporate lawyer with over 25 years' experience advising Irish, US and multinational companies in the life sciences, technology and financial services industries. He is qualified in Ireland, England and Wales, and New York.

Carthy graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1994 with an LL.B. and received an LL.M. from the University of Chicago in 1995. Born in Dublin, he studied Law at Trinity, before moving to the USA where he continued his legal studies at the University of Chicago Law School.

Carthy then moved to London to take up a post in the multinational law giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer before returning to the top five Irish law firm William Fry where he worked as a partner. He previously held the non-executive positions of Chairman of the Ireland India Business Association and President of the Irish Exporters Association.

Career history

• Country Managing Partner at DLA Piper Ireland (2018-2026) — founded firm as first employee and grew to 115+ lawyers
• Partner at William Fry — Dublin-based top five Irish law firm
• Associate/Counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer — London, Magic Circle firm
• Chairman, Ireland India Business Association (5 years of 7+ total)
• President, Irish Exporters Association

What Carthy brings to leadership

Carthy is known for building organizations with strong values and global perspective. Under his leadership, DLA Piper evolved from opening with 2 staff at Christmas 2018 to grow rapidly with 58 people by mid-2020 and over 115 by 2024, positioning it as the fastest-growing legal brand in Ireland. His significant experience includes helping clients with reorganisations, mergers and acquisitions, and advising multinational and growing companies on expanding their global footprint.