Rowena McCormack

Partner

Dublin

Rowena co-leads our commercial litigation & dispute resolution practice and has built up a reputation for managing complex commercial claims on behalf of corporate and commercial clients, public bodies, regulators, and private clients. Rowena also leads our data, privacy and cyber team and has a particular interest in cyber and data breach incidents.
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About Rowena

Bio
  • Biography

    Rowena is a litigation specialist with considerable experience in dealing with complex disputes enforcement strategies, reputation, and crisis management. She routinely represents clients before the High Court, Commercial Court, and Court of Appeal as well as other dispute resolution forums including arbitration and mediation. 

    In addition to her litigation experience, Rowena has considerable experience in acting for parties who have been impacted by cyber-attacks and data breaches and is very skilled in providing urgent advice in relation to appropriate responses, engagement with the DPC, reputation management, and preparing for and defending any subsequent prosecution or litigation. 

    Rowena is a committee member of the Law Society of Ireland Litigation Committee and was also appointed by the Minister for Justice as part of an expert group on discount rates.

     

    Featured expertise:

    • Advising a renewable energy company on a significant contractual dispute in respect of a patented waste technology which included time sensitive advice in relation to interim reliefs available and a wider strategy to protect the client's commercial position. The value of the claim was estimated to be over €100m
    • Defending a pensioneer trustee in relation to a high-profile High Court matter taken by the Pensions Regulator 
    • Advising several professionals in respect of professional negligence claims 
    • Advising on the defence of proceedings brought by investors and brokers against a specialist trustee service provider in relation to losses arising from an investment product which totalled €107m to Irish investors and €2 billion worldwide 
    • Advising on a wide variety of contractual and financial disputes before the Commercial Court 
    • Advising a number of high-profile clients in relation to substantial defamation and breach of privacy claims 
    • Advised a large multinational engineering company in relation to pre-litigation and reputation management following a major security event. Rowena was working with a number of international lawyers as well as five independent forensic IT teams in relation to managing and containing the incident in order to minimise exposure to the client
    • Advised on a number of health facilities in respect of a data breaches of highly confidential and sensitive information 
    • Advises on reputational management in relation to privacy law and defamation and has recently acted on behalf of clients as well as being instructed by leading global insurers to defend defamation proceedings on their Insured’s behalf a number of which have been highly sensitive matters 

     

    Endorsements:

    • Rowena is a prominent dispute resolution practitioner who is earning accolades from clients and the market” Chambers and Partners, Europe 2025, Ireland 
    • “Rowena McCormack is responsive and works to find practical solutions.” Chambers and Partners, Europe 2025, Ireland 
    • Winner of the Lexology Client Choice Awards: Litigation in Ireland (2024) 
    • Identified as a "Top 10 Premier Dispute Resolution Lawyer Influencing Ireland" by Business Today (August 2024) 
    • Nominated by the Minister for Justice in Ireland to an “Expert Working Group on Discount Rates" in Ireland  
    • Ranked as an “Up and Coming” Partner and is a "Brilliant Litigator” in Chamber Global for her commercial litigation work where she is said to provide "very solid and sensible advice.” Chambers & Partners, Europe 2024, Ireland 
    • Rowena McCormack is ranked as a “Leading Partner” in Legal 500, 2025 and the team is ranked as Band 2 with clients stating that ‘The team delivers a very efficient service and demonstrates considerable knowledge and understanding of this area of the law and, as such, provides insightful and practical advice which is invaluable to a client.’ 

    • Ranked as a "Next Generation Partner" in Data Privacy & Data Protection by Legal 500 (2024) 

Sector Expertise
  • Insurance

Service Expertise
  • Cyber and Data Risk

  • International Arbitration

  • Public law and judicial review

Office Location

Dublin

  • 3 Haddington Buildings,
  • Percy Pl, Ballsbridge,
  • Dublin 4, D04 T253, Ireland

+ 353 (0) 1 231 9600

View our office

Articles

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Commercial Litigation

3 min read

Archaic discovery obligations: High Court provides clarity on when discovery of documents is truly "necessary"

Commercial Litigation

2 min read

Digitalisation of civil proceedings: better late than never

Commercial Litigation

2 min read

High Court orders that witnesses are to be cross examined on their affidavits in recent aircraft judicial review proceedings

Commercial Litigation

3 min read

Service of High Court Proceedings set aside for non-compliance with Procedural Rules and Court Order

Data, Privacy and Cyber

5 min read

Authority of European Data Protection Board to order new investigations clarified by EU General Court

Technology

2 min read

Data Protection – Taking Personal Responsibility

Technology

2 min read

DPC Launches Coordinated Enforcement Action on Right of Access

Industry Specialisms

3 min read

High Court Publishes Further Details for Pilot Project Long Vacation 2024

Data, Privacy and Cyber

4 min read

Changing of the Guard: Transformation at the Irish Data Protection Commission

Data, Privacy and Cyber

3 min read

'Pay or ok' challenged as ad-free subscription models under scrutiny