Event information
Agenda
4.30pm: Arrival and Registration
5.00pm: Welcome address and opening remarks
- Richard Kelly, partner, Matheson
- Chris Vlachopoulos, research editor, The Legal 500
5.10pm: Accelerating the green transition through corporate sustainability due diligence and cooperation: Should lawyers shift their focus from minimising risks to promoting sustainability?
What steps are your organisation taking to manage your supply chain in the context of ESG and impending legal requirements? Which aspects of the green transition are the most important for your organisation’s perspective? As General Counsel, what are you working on right now and what are the imminent issues that must be tackled?
- Garret Farrelly, chair of ESG advisory group, Matheson – Moderator
- Garrett Quinn, group chief sustainability officer, Smurfit Kappa Group plc
- Bill Senior, operations director, Power Capital
- Simon Welch, global head of legal sustainability, Credit Suisse AG
5.45pm: Managing ESG reputational risks and crisis management.
How do ESG reputational risks differ from managing legal risks?
- Nicola Dunleavy, partner, Matheson – Moderator
- Gerard Howlin, public affairs consultant, MKC Communications
- Conor Keeling, sustainability legal team, Allied Irish Banks, plc.
- Dr John MacNamara, corporate sustainability lead, Bord na Móna
6.20pm: Closing Remarks
- Susanne McMenamin, partner, Matheson
6.30pm: Networking drinks and canapés
7.00pm: Event Concludes
Speakers
Garret Farrelly, chair of ESG advisory group, Matheson
Garret is a partner and head of both Matheson’s energy, natural resources and utilities group and projects and infrastructure Group. He also chairs Matheson’s cross departmental specialist ESG advisory group. Garret advises on all aspects of projects and project financing, from PPPs to privately-financed energy and infrastructure developments and privatisations as well as electricity, gas and telecommunications network infrastructure. Garret’s experience also includes project development, M&A and financing in the conventional and renewable electricity sectors.
Garret’s practice focuses heavily on electricity market regulation and trading as well as renewable energy projects and sustainability and ESG mandates and transactions. Recent mandates include advising the Irish Government on the Renewable Energy Subsidy Schemes (the RESS 1, RESS Offshore and RESS 2 schemes), advising EirGrid plc and SONI Limited (the all-island transmission system operators) in relation to the re-design of the Irish power market (I-SEM) and advising both corporates and developers on all but two of the renewable energy corporate power purchase agreements which have been signed in Ireland to date.
Garret is consistently ranked as a Tier 1 Energy lawyer in Ireland, including in leading legal international directories such as The Legal 500, Chambers Europe and IFLR1000.
Garrett Quinn, group chief sustainability officer, Smurfit Kappa Group plc
Garrett Quinn was appointed group chief sustainability officer in July 2021. He joined the group in 2000 and has occupied a number of roles predominantly in operations, managing corrugated box plants in the UK and Ireland, and subsequently moving to head of investor relations, a role he held for five years.
Garrett has completed his postgraduate studies with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership and holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from University College Dublin.
Nicola Dunleavy, partner, Matheson
Nicola Dunleavy is co-head of Matheson’s commercial litigation and dispute resolution group, with almost 30 years’ experience in ESG litigation. She also heads the environmental, planning and safety practice.
In June 2021 Nicola was granted the title of ‘Senior Counsel’ by the Irish Government. This was only the second time that solicitors have been appointed as Senior Counsel, an honour which up to recently been reserved for barristers.
Nicola is consistently chosen to represent international and domestic private and public sector bodies in complex, high-stakes ESG disputes in Ireland and in the European Courts (CJEU). Nicola is the Irish Court member of the London Court of International Arbitration. She is a Chartered Tax Advisor, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of Energy Law Ireland and the Irish Environmental Law Association and has been recognised by The Legal 500 as an elite leading lawyer as part of the Planning and Environment: European Legal 500 Hall of Fame 2020.
Gerard Howlin, public affairs consultant, MKC Communications
Gerard has practised as a public affairs consultant with MKC Communications since 2008, working for a wide range of clients in the public and private sector. His portfolio currently includes state bodies, not for profit NGO’s, financial services and multinational PLCs. He is a trusted advisor to business leaders and a respected commentator in the media. He is a contributor to The Irish Times and a regular participant in political debate on-air.
In fifteen years as a political advisor his roles included Special Adviser at the Department of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) 1999-2007, Government Press Secretary June – August 2007, Special Adviser at the Department of Tourism and Sport 1997-1999 and policy advisor to the leader of the opposition 1995 – 1997. Gerard was a member of the steering committee of the National Campaign for the Arts 2012-2015. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Trinity College Dublin Association and Trust in 2019 and to the board of Irish National Opera in 2020.
Conor Keeling, sustainability legal team, Allied Irish Banks, plc.
Conor Keeling studied law in Trinity College Dublin and qualified as solicitor in A&L Goodbody in 1999. He worked in the firm’s finance department until 2004 when he joined AIB’s corporate banking legal team. Since then, he has worked in various legal roles in the bank in the area of corporate lending including leading the capital markets legal team from 2016 – 2021.
In January 2022, he established AIB’s new sustainability legal team – the first in-house legal team of its kind in Ireland – to provide legal support on all aspects of the bank’s sustainability agenda. Since its establishment, the sustainability legal team has advised on a wide variety of sustainability-related issues with a particular focus on sustainable finance, including green and sustainability-linked loans. Conor also sits on the bank’s sustainability regulatory steering committee and is involved in a number of key sustainability-related strategic initiatives in the organisation.
Dr John MacNamara, corporate sustainability lead, Bord na Móna
John MacNamara is currently leading Bord na Móna’s corporate sustainability team, as the business transitions from a fossil fuel company to becoming a provider of climate solutions across low carbon renewable energy, the circular economy and land use management/eco-system services. John is developing and co-ordinating the implementation of Bord na Móna’s new Sustainability strategy which is designed to have positive impacts on climate action and communities.
He holds a PhD in chemistry, an LLB in Irish law, and a diploma in finance. John is company secretary for the Electricity Association of Ireland; and was previously chair of Wind Energy Ireland’s (WEI) Markets Committee and a member of the Brussels based Eurelectric‘s markets and investment committee. John was formerly employed with the EPA as a senior scientist, as well as holding positions in the private environmental sector and latterly in Bord na Móna’s renewable energy division.
Chris Vlachopoulos, research editor, Legal 500
Chris works at The Legal 500 as a research editor, overseeing the company’s Private Practice Powerlists. He has editorial experience within the legal sector, as well as on editorial psychoanalytic projects. Chris contributes to The Legal 500’s Global Green Guide on developments relating to ESG matters and legislative subjects.
Bill Senior, operations director, PowerCapital
Bill Senior is director of operations at Power Capital Renewable Energy, one of the largest solar PV developers in Ireland with 1.2GW and transitioning into a fully integrated IPP. Bill has over 17 years’ experience in the infrastructure and energy sectors, specialising in utility solar PV, engineering, procurement and construction. Bill is a Chartered Engineer and responsible for civil, mechanical and electrical teams, supply chain management and delivery of projects safely, on time and budget. Bill is also the Treasurer and Board Director of the Irish Solar Energy Association and visiting professor at Trinity College Dublin for renewable sustainability courses.
Richard Kelly, partner, Matheson
Richard Kelly is a partner in the finance and capital markets department at Matheson. Richard’s practice includes advising corporates, financial institutions, investment banks, asset managers and institutional investors on all aspects of capital markets transactions involving Irish elements, including corporate bond issuances, asset backed securitisations, CLOs, repackagings and segregated managed account structures.
Richard’s practice also includes advising Irish corporates and investment funds and their counterparties in relation to derivatives transactions, repurchase and reverse-repurchase transactions, securities lending and prime brokerage and on the regulation of derivatives, the application of the Financial Collateral Directive and the operation of netting and set-off in Ireland. Richard has acted for many of the world’s leading financial institutions in providing bespoke legal opinions on the enforceability of close-out netting provisions and collateral arrangements documented using industry standard or client-specific derivatives, repo and prime brokerage documentation.
Richard has been active in the Irish Debt Securities Association (IDSA) since its formation, regularly participating in sub-groups of the IDSA’s legal committee to prepare submissions on proposed legislation. Richard also regularly represents Matheson at meetings of the EMIR working group at Irish Funds.
Susanne McMenamin, partner, Matheson
Susanne is a partner in Matheson’s corporate group specialising in corporate advisory matters and equity capital markets transactions.
A member of Matheson’s ESG advisory group, Susanne has particular expertise in company law and corporate governance advisory work for public and private companies, including assisting clients to embed good corporate governance policies and practices across their organisations.
Susanne advises our clients on European securities law, Irish and UK Listing Rules and the Irish Takeover Rules and works with our clients on corporate reporting requirements in Ireland.
Susanne provides board induction and ongoing director training on specialist corporate governance, compliance and securities law matters. Susanne also advises on matters of crisis and reputation management.
Susanne has extensive equity capital markets transaction experience advising international and domestic clients on IPOs, capital raisings, public company M&A (hostile and recommended offers) as well as experience on corporate migrations, redomiciliations, joint ventures and reorganisations.
Simon Welch, global head of legal sustainability, Credit Suisse AG
Simon Welch is the Global Head of Legal Sustainability for Credit Suisse AG. He works with global stakeholders on sustainability matters across all divisions within the bank. For the majority of his time, Simon works remotely in rural County Tipperary, Ireland. He also works with leading financial sustainability initiatives such as those organized by United Nations Environmental Programme Financial Initiative, Loan Markets Association and International Capital Market Association.
In Simon’s career with Credit Suisse, he worked as a Managing Director responsible for the Credit Suisse’s GC Centres of Excellence programme in Wroclaw, Pune and Mumbai. He also worked for Credit Suisse in Guernsey, as Head of Legal for Credit Suisse AG Guernsey Branch. Simon joined Credit Suisse in 2009 from West Bromwich Building Society, where he was Group Secretary & Legal Counsel. Prior to that, he worked at Nottingham Law School as a Senior Lecturer, and before that was a Senior Solicitor at Wragge & Co (now Gowlings WLG). Simon is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales, barrister (non-practicing) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators. 
In association with...
Matheson is the law firm of choice for internationally focused companies and financial institutions doing business in and from Ireland.
In 2021, Matheson became one of the first Irish law firms to establish a dedicated cross-sectoral and partner-led Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Group which assists companies in navigating and responding to the rapidly evolving ESG landscape. By bringing the firm’s ESG offering into one combined advisory platform, the ESG Advisory Group provides an integrated approach to supporting clients in responding to legislative and regulatory change; delivering on their own ESG goals; and meeting the challenges and opportunities in doing so. Matheson clients have access to an online ESG resource hub of knowledge and insights.
Chaired by Garret Farrelly, the dedicated group of 12 partners combines a strong collaborative focus with deep industry knowledge, providing ESG expertise in the areas of sustainable finance; governance; climate action; energy, natural resources and utilities; waste and the circular economy; employment practices; supply chain management; investment funds; environmental and planning; data privacy; sustainable construction; and sustainable commercial real estate.
As a business, Matheson is committed to environmental, social and governance standards. The firm’s Environmental Sustainability Committee is tasked with implementing initiatives and setting targets to ensure that the firm meets its sustainability objectives. Matheson is a founding signatory to Pro Bono Pledge Ireland, an initiative which calls on legal professionals in Ireland to commit to promoting access to justice by providing free legal assistance to those in need. Matheson’s Diversity and Inclusion programmes have been recognised by the Irish Centre for Diversity and Matheson remains the only law firm in Ireland to receive Gold Standard accreditation from the Irish Centre for Diversity for D&I practices.