Mary Cooney

Mary holds a qualification in Bachelor of Civil Law (Hons) and Masters in Law (LLM) from University College Cork. Mary also holds a Certificate in Healthcare Law from the Law Society of Ireland, a Diploma in Professional Regulation from University College Dublin and in 2023 graduated with first class honours from a Masters in Healthcare Law and Ethics in Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) in Ireland.

Mary specialises in healthcare law and regulation. She has particular expertise in the defence of complex clinical negligence cases, the defence of multi-party product liability claims and advising clients on regulatory compliance within the healthcare sphere.

Recent significant matters include:

• providing specialist advice in high value and complex clinical, professional and product liability claims before all courts and before professional regulatory authorities and within inquiries by the Health Service Executive. Mary has also advised in Inquests and a Commission of Inquiry.
• currently working with the team advising a laboratory defending a significant cohort of claims within the CervicalCheck litigation. Mary’s experience in this field includes advising in 2021 on the first claims mediated within the newly established CervicalCheck Tribunal.
• During 2021, she also advised a genetic testing service in Scotland NHS in relation to pre-natal screening it provided to an Irish maternity hospital. This was the first case before the Irish Courts considering the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
• advising a cohort of Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeons in respect of litigation arising from the worldwide recall of a medical device.