Professor Lucy-Ann Buckley specialises in employment law, particularly employment equality. Her research focuses particularly on gender and disability discrimination, intersectional inequalities, and employment regulation (including the gig economy). She has also published on equality in higher education, and (at an earlier career stage) on family property.

Professor Buckley’s research is strongly socio-legal and considers law in its broader social, political and organisational context. She is particularly interested in the social impact of legal rules and decision-making, and her work is informed and driven by a social justice perspective. She is an active member of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law, where she is a member of the Sexual Harassment Working Group and the Disability Rights Working Group. She has published widely in leading international journals such as the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, the Industrial Law Journal, Legal Studies, the International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, Employee Relations, and Work, Employment and Society. She has also published in top national journals, such as the Irish Jurist and the Dublin University Law Journal. Recent publications address reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities, the sexual harassment of women with disabilities, gender equality in Irish employment law, and the regulation of the gig economy, among other topics.

Professor Buckley’s pedagogical research addresses equality, diversity and inclusion in higher education. She has co-led a number of funded research projects on inclusive learning, one of which received a SATLE Impact Award from the Higher Education Authority in 2024. These national awards celebrate excellence and impact in key areas of teaching and learning enhancement, including digital transformation, academic integrity, and education for sustainable development.

Professor Buckley's research has had significant international impact. From 2018-2020 and again in 2022, she acted as an expert advisor to the States of Guernsey (Channel Islands) in relation to the development of new multi-ground equality legislation, which was enacted in 2022. For this work, while at University of Galway, she was awarded a President’s Team Award for Societal Impact in 2020. Professor Buckley previously contributed to the Joint Statement Towards Inclusive Social Protection Systems Supporting the Full and Effective Participation of Persons With Disabilities (2019), developed by the International Labour Organisation in consultation with stakeholder organisations.

Professor Buckley's book, Combatting Disability Harassment at Work: Human Rights in Practice, was published in 2022 by Bristol University Press. In this work, Professor Buckley focuses on legal measures to combat disability harassment at work. She sets disability harassment in its international context, including its human rights framework, and confronts the lack of empirical information by evaluating the Irish legal framework in practice. She also explores the capacity of the law to address intersectional harassment, particularly that faced by women with disabilities. After outlining the current barriers to legal solutions, she proposes a range of measures to make the law on disability harassment more effective.

Reflecting her research interests, Professor Buckley's main teaching interests lie in Equality Law, Labour Law, and the Law of Equity.

Lucy-Ann Buckley is Full Professor of Commercial Law and Head of the School of Law at the University of Limerick. She originally studied law at University College Cork, where she was awarded a BCL and an LLM by research. After qualifying as a solicitor, she completed a BCL (masters) at the University of Oxford and a PhD at Trinity College Dublin. She commenced her academic career at the University of Warwick, and subsequently lectured at the University of Limerick and the University of Galway, before returning to the University of Limerick.