Joanne O'Sullivan

Joanne is the Managing Partner of Kennedys' Dublin office, and she is the head of the healthcare team in Dublin. 

Joanne is a healthcare specialist, dual qualified in Ireland and in England & Wales, having practiced in the latter for a number of years.

She has a broad experience across the entire healthcare law field having worked in both the private and public sector, including advising on claims, inquests and regulatory work.

Joanne advises some of the major Irish hospitals under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme. She also represents private medical malpractice insurers, private hospitals and private Consultants and allied health professionals. She has particular expertise advising on complex, high value, multi-party litigation.

Prior to Kennedys, Joanne held the position of Deputy Head of Legal Services at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust – one of the largest hospital Trusts in the UK.

In her work in the private and public sectors, Joanne has also provided urgent health law advice on a range of issues including withdrawal of treatment, complex discharge cases, capacity and deprivation of liberty safeguards.

With expertise gained from both the public and private sector, Joanne can offer unique insight into the legal needs of a large hospital group and how best to meet those needs.

Joanne is an experienced lecturer and currently lectures on both the undergraduate and postgraduate medical law and ethics course at University College London. She is also a lecturer on the Graduate Diploma in Healthcare (Risk Management and Quality) at University College Dublin and lectures for the Royal College of Paediatricians on issues such as consent, capacity and safeguarding.

She frequently delivers medico-legal training for clients and regularly contributes to the Kennedys Healthcare Brief.

Joanne is an author of Kennedys’ Claims Handling Law and Practice Guide, the fourth edition of which was published in February 2021.

She also contributed to the fourth edition of Kennedys’ Global Legal Handbook, one of our most popular guides, which outlines the main legal and procedural issues that case handlers may encounter when dealing with claims across 53 jurisdictions globally.

Joanne is a member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers.

Qualifications

• Qualified in Ireland in 2008
• Qualified in England and Wales in 2009