About Us
A Modern Legal Firm With Strong Traditional Values
Trust, Dedication & Consistency
Clarendon Legal is a modern-thinking legal firm with strong traditional values. Our commitment is to serve all of our clients with equally-high levels of respect, dignity and compassion while ensuring your needs are always placed before ours. Based in Derry and Donegal, Clarendon Legal is a local firm with a wide cross-border reach. We serve clients not only in the North West, but anywhere from Dublin to Belfast and Cork to Donegal.
Our Process
Regardless of your level of apprehension regarding your legal situation, engaging with your Clarendon Legal solicitor will be a simple and stress-free process. Our welcoming approach, decades in legal service excellence, and dedication to serving your needs; will give you the peace of mind that your case is in safe hands. As a client of Clarendon Legal, you are assured that we will work around your schedule. Should you prefer online consultations to save travel time or for any other reason, then we are always happy and equipped to oblige. Should you prefer more traditional face-to-face meetings, you’ll be warmly welcomed to our modern office or we can travel to a venue of your choice.
Our People
Our people are central to our reputation as a leading legal firm. Our combined experience as a team — with all of our specialist legal expertise in areas including litigation, licensing, criminal law, property law, commercial law, and wills and probate — ensures that we can handle the most difficult of legal situations on behalf of clients. We relish the toughest of legal challenges, which is evident in our track record of vigorously protecting our client’s interests in each and every case.
Paddy McDaid
Partner
Paddy graduated from Queens University, Belfast in 1991 and qualified as a Solicitor in 1993. He was admitted to the Role of Solicitors in Ireland in 2002 and qualified as a Solicitor Advocate in 2005.
He is a highly experienced litigation lawyer, specialising in Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Litigation both in Northern Ireland and Ireland. He has a vast experience in areas of complex litigation, and licencing representing the interest of his clients in all court tiers including the UK Supreme Court (see the reported case of: An Application for Judicial Review by Lorraine Gallagher [2019] UKSC 3).
Paddy was a member of The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal from 2009-2019. He is currently Vice-Chair of The Scrutiny Committee in The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland and is a Notary Public for the Counties of Donegal and Leitrim.
Joe McElhinney
Partner
Joe graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1989 and qualified as a solicitor in 1991. He deals with all areas of conveyancing in particular residential sales, purchases and re- mortgages and also carries out extensive work in connection with Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Probate.
Michael McGonigle
Partner
Michael joined Clarendon Legal on November 1, 2017 as a Partner. He graduated from Dundee University in 1993 with an Honours Degree in English Law and obtained his Legal Practising Certificate from the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast in 1995.
He initially served his apprenticeship with the firm of Shean Dickson Merrick Solicitors in Belfast before returning “home” to Limavady and taking up a role as an Assistant Solicitor in general practice before becoming a Partner within the firm of McGuinness & Canavan Solicitors in Derry city.
Michael specialises in a wide range of non-contentious private client matters to include contracts, conveyancing, commercial property and probate and he is dual qualified to practice both in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland including responsibility for our branch office in Moville, Co. Donegal.
Mary Friel
Solicitor
Mary Friel graduated from the University of Ulster at Magee with a degree in Law & Business Studies and completed her Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the School of Professional Legal Education at the University of Ulster at Magee. She was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of the Supreme Court in Northern Ireland in 2010 and to the Roll of Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland in 2020.
Mary is experienced in all areas of general practice but specialising in property matters such as buying and selling residential property, drafting Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney and is experienced in the administration of Estates.
Caoimhe McDaid
Solicitor
Caoimhe graduated from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown with a degree in Law & Criminology in 2015, and thereafter completed her Diploma in Professional Legal Studies at Queens University Belfast before she was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 2018. Caoimhe completed her Training Contract with a litigation firm specialising in Defence Litigation before joining Clarendon Legal in January 2020.
Caoimhe works across a number of the firm’s core practice areas specialising in Divorce and matrimonial disputes, private and public law family matters.
Caoimhe is also a member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland Children’s Order Panel.
Our Story
Clarendon Legal was founded in 1998 in Derry, as Northern Ireland entered a new era of peace with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
Over the years the partnership has grown from strength to strength — from starting off with two solicitors and two secretaries to now having five solicitors and nine administrative staff providing legal advice and representation on both sides of the border.
Since its formation, the firm has been located at 48 Clarendon Street in the city. In 2003, a major investment resulted in an extension of the impressive Georgian premises to result in more than 3,000 square feet of office space.
Satellite offices were later opened in Dungiven in Co. Derry and at Back Lane in Moville, Co. Donegal to serve clients in the Republic of Ireland.
Michael McGonigle joined the firm as a full equal partner in 2017 and the name of the business was changed to Clarendon Legal.
Since the beginning, we have proudly represented people from all walks of life and businesses from across the commercial spectrum. We’re proud of our growth, the experience we continually gain, our legal expertise, our reputation for professional service excellence, and most importantly, the strong personal relationships we build with each and every client we act for.
Corporate Social Responsibility
We believe in giving back and take our corporate social responsibility seriously. We are proud to sponsor community sporting events, charities, and teams. We choose a charity each year to support and champion through sponsorship.
