Dónall is a strategic, cross-disciplinary, employment lawyer who advises on the full range of employment law issues, with a focus on providing commercial, practical advice and regularly acting on cross-border, high-profile matters.
Having worked in both top ranked private practice employment teams and major high-profile organisations as an in-house lawyer, Dónall has first-hand experience in managing complex and sensitive matters at the most senior level.
He has advised on a front-page employment litigation claim, numerous cross-border reduction-in-force projects, and an international transaction exceeding $1billion. Qualified to practice in both the UK and Ireland, Dónall has developed a particular expertise in advising on organisations’ pay equity obligations. He has spoken at the ELA Annual Conference on ethnic and disability pay gap reporting and led the Pay Transparency Directive panel at Littler’s European Executive Employer in London. Dónall regularly assists clients on navigating the real-world implications of evolving pay transparency legislation and is a member of Littler’s subject matter expert group on the Pay Transparency Directive.
Having advised several companies on the lawfulness of their DEI strategies and spoken at Littler’s European Executive Employer Conference in Dublin on the subject of intergenerational DEI issues, Dónall has a particular interest in advising clients on positive discrimination risks with equality strategies.
Prior to re-joining Littler, Dónall worked as in-house employment counsel for Improbable Worlds Limited and the Premier League. He is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and Employment Lawyers Association of Ireland.
“We’ve had the pleasure of working with Sophie Vanhegan, Dónall Breen, and the Littler UK team during our direct employment expansion across the United Kingdom and the European Union. Their legal support has been consistently outstanding. In particular, their guidance on UK employment law has been deeply thoughtful, precise, and tailored to our company’s unique culture and operational model. What sets them apart is their genuine effort to understand not just our policies and internal documents, but the underlying values and practices that shape how we operate.”
Legal 500, 2026