The Legal Cheek View
Celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2025, Dublin-based giant Matheson is one of the most recognisable names in both the Irish and international corporate law landscape. Long respected for its M&A expertise, the firm has recently led the Irish market in deal count, volume, and value. While its high-profile transactions often make national headlines, Matheson is equally renowned for advising on complex multinational tax structures for clients like Microsoft and Google (whose EU headquarters are in Dublin), as well as its work with specialist tax vehicles.
Insurance, capital markets, and fintech are also key strengths for Matheson. Beyond the financial world, trainees can expect exposure to clients across the energy, real estate, environmental, healthcare, and media sectors.
With over 120 partners and nearly 1,000 global staff, Matheson advises clients across industries —from the world’s largest banks and asset managers to tech giants and Fortune 100 companies.
Each year, around 40-45 fortunate trainees join the firm, having had their FE1 and PPC fees fully covered, along with a €500 book allowance. They start on a market-leading salary which Legal Cheek understands to be high €40,000s as they rotate between four seats including secondment over two years, before earning around €75k once qualified. Trainees enjoy five extra days of leave post-PPC, and are treated to a trainee weekend away. As trainees and juniors, you’ll share office space with a partner or associate, receive an annual health and wellbeing payment, 23 days’ paid holiday (plus a “Matheson Mindful Day”), and may be eligible for bonuses. The firm embraces hybrid and flexible working, though with a relaxed business casual dress code and perks like an on-site gym, subsidised restaurant and café, and dry-cleaning services, many opt to work on-site. Secondments — both client-facing and overseas —are on offer, as are volunteering opportunities through the Matheson Foundation.
Though Matheson’s offices were destroyed during the 1916 Easter Rising, the firm rebuilt and by the 1950s had re-established itself between St Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square. Expansion followed: London in 1989, Palo Alto in 1996 (the first Dublin firm to open in Silicon Valley), and New York in 2003. In 2018, Matheson became the first major Dublin firm to open a second Irish office, on Penrose Dock in Cork city centre — just minutes from the train station.
Since 2007, Matheson’s flagship office has stood at the edge of Silicon Docks, overlooking the River Liffey and the Irish Sea, next door to JP Morgan. Its distinctive lightwell entrance, with bauble lights hanging down between mezzanine offices, opens up to long desks, multiple monitors, and an airy layout. Lawyers in long coats often stroll along the calm riverbank or grab food and coffee from nearby spots, while seagulls swoop down on unsuspecting tourists. When the sun’s out, the terraces at BrewDog in Grand Canal Dock and The Ferryman down the quay (beside rival McCann Fitzgerald) are packed. On Capital Dock, you’ll find calisthenics machines and benches by a grassy lawn — ideal for a sunny lunch break, with a cool sea breeze in the air.
Matheson is committed to inclusion and sustainability. The firm offers the Cara Scholarship and the Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship, and sponsors a gender equality award at Trinity College Dublin — also awarded at Maynooth University. Its deals often lead the way in green initiatives, reflecting a broader commitment to ethical business. The Docklands area around the firm is clean and surprisingly tranquil. Trainees at Matheson enjoy the firm’s financial sponsorship for a calendar packed with a summer BBQ, weekend away, Christmas party and sports events, shown across their Facebook and Instagram pages.
The firm looks for candidates with strong academics (at least a 2:1), bolstered by relevant legal or non-legal experience and a range of extracurriculars. Expect questions at interview about why Matheson, why corporate law, and be ready to talk about everything from your charity work to your favourite novel. Above all, Matheson focuses on “potential” because they want to recruit partners, they say, and look for team players who want to make a meaningful contribution through sharing their core values of “partnership, respect, innovation, diversity and entrepreneurship.”