Patricia O’Brien

  • Partner
  • Law Society of Ireland
  • Property Industry Ireland (Council member)
  • Southern Law Association
  • BCL , UCC (1985)
  • Solicitor, Law Society of Ireland (1988)

Patricia is a partner specialising in property, planning, and development matters. She is trusted by developers, investors, lenders, and landowners to guide the structuring and delivery of complex residential, mixed-use, and commercial developments, from site acquisition through planning and completion.

​She has particular expertise in managing planning risks associated with acquisitions and in designing robust legal structures for multi-unit schemes, including management company and service charge arrangements. Patricia also advises on high-value commercial property transactions and regularly leads legal teams on development and funding projects.

Patricia is an experienced planning and property litigator and acts for developers and landowners in judicial review proceedings and High Court and Commercial Court litigation. Her litigation experience brings a strategic and practical approach to all stages of a project.

She is a founding member and current board member of Property Industry Ireland and previously served on the Commission on Housing Working Group on Supply: Land, Planning and Infrastructure.

  • Leading property teams on the acquisition and funding of land for major residential and commercial developments
  • Advising developers on the legal delivery of turnkey and forward-funded developments
  • Acting for developers and landowners in judicial review proceedings challenging planning decisions
  • Advising on and acting in challenges to the inclusion of lands on Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) maps
  • Structuring multi-unit residential and mixed-use developments, including management company and service charge regimes
  • Leading complex High Court and Commercial Court litigation arising from development, land use, and property disputes
  • Negotiating complex settlements in multi-party property and planning disputes to achieve commercially workable outcomes
  • Advising borrowers and developers on restructuring, forbearance, and distressed property scenarios