: justify;”>Hugh has worked since 1986 in credit management, debt collection and commercial areas of business and law. He qualified as a Solicitor in Ireland in 1986 and obtained his Juris Doctor Law Degree in the USA in 1991. He is admitted to practice law in Ireland, England, Wales and America and is a member of the bar in the States of New York and District of Columbia.
He was elected a “Fellow” of the Irish Institute of Credit Managers (“IICM”) in 2011 as a mark of his significant contributions over many years to the area of Credit Management in Ireland. He is a member of the technical committee in the Irish Institute of Credit Managers and also a member of the Law Society and Chambers Ireland Dublin.
His contributions were acknowledged by the Law Reform Commission in their final report on “Personal Debt Management and Debt Enforcement” published in December 2010. He has also lectured in the Law Society on Injunctions and on debt collection procedure. His most recent lecture on “Enforcement of Judgments” was to other qualified solicitors at the Law Societies Commercial Course in 2011 and 2013.
Hugh has had many articles published in the Law Society Gazette on debt recovery and in other Credit Management Trade Gazettes both in Ireland and internationally. He has written many articles on debt collection subjects including “Enforcement of Judgments” which deals with the various options available in Ireland when enforcing judgments and was published in the Irish Institute of Credit Managers Gazette. He has spoken at many Credit Industry seminars.
Hugh has established a number of strategic partnerships including a partnership with Creditinfo for the purpose of establishing Credit Bureaus in Ireland and providing information and data analytics on credit vetting, fraud and credit review. We are the local presence and ensure that all local developments, compliance regulation and laws are adhered to including developments in data protection law and availability of new metrics or data such as postcodes and geo directories.
International Experience:
Hugh was requested by the European Commission to speak on contract construction and enforcement of contracts cross border in the European Union. This was targeted at Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) doing business outside their country in the EU internal market. They sometimes have to face the problem of cross-border debt recovery. This can discourage them from engaging in cross-border business and therefore prevent them from benefitting fully from the possibilities offered by the European single market.
Improved access by SMEs to the relevant information in the area of claims management instruments and options is therefore a key element for encouraging them to do business in the single market. At the same time this will enable the single market to function more smoothly.
The general objective of the project was to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that operate across borders by facilitating cross-border debt recovery. SMEs were helped to optimise their business procedures by improving their access to information on claims management instruments and options. The aim was also to improve the use, understanding and awareness of the available legal instruments.
Hugh has spoken at the European Commission events in Dublin, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, Bulgaria and Hungary.
For more information please click on the following link:
Hugh J. Ward & Co are also partners in Global Credit Solutions (GCS) which provides a local partner for debt recovery in 97 countries.
Hugh J. Ward & Co. Solicitors are a dynamic large law firm with over 51 staff located at 9 Seville Place, Dublin 1 established in 1996.
Memberships:
Registered and regulated by The Law Society in Ireland – Firm Number S5317
Corporate Member of the Irish Institute of Credit Managers
Elected Fellow of the Irish Institute of Credit Managers
Member of the Technical Committee of the Irish Institute of Credit Managers
Member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland – Number 11332
Member Chambers Ireland Dublin
Enterprise Ireland Client
Irish Small & Medium Enterprise (ISME) member
Winner of the Litigation Specialist Awards in 2009 and 2013.
Member Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners
Law Firm independently accredited – Gold Standard in 2014.