About

Tommy Reilly joined Kingspan in 2011 following a short stint in private practice and in his own words, is ‘loving every day since’. Reilly leads the in-house legal team at Kingspan and is highly regarded with his team having previously been included in 2018’s GC Powerlist: Ireland Teams edition. Reilly was elected to the Council of the Law Society of Ireland by his colleagues in 2017 and is only one of two in-house lawyers on the Council. He is also a member of the Law Society of Ireland In-house and Public Sector Committee and the Human Rights committee. He says that he ‘feels it is very important that in-house lawyers be represented on the Law Society of Ireland given that we represent 20% of the profession in Ireland’. Through his career Reilly has worked on many important transactions including drafting and negotiating critical multimillion-euro procurement contracts and key sponsorship and partnership agreements such as one with the Ulster Rugby team, the Kingspan Stadium and the Ecoalf Foundation partnership. Additionally, he has worked on group financing projects including multi-million US loan notes, revolving credit facilities and bilateral agreements, the negotiation of those documents and coordinating towards signature. He has implemented legal panels in various jurisdictions to streamline legal work and create synergy and savings for the Group as a result. Reilly highlights that, ‘the above highlights have enabled [him] to grow as a lawyer and successfully achieve positive outcomes for the Group. Embracing new technology has been important in my role and finding a suitable matter management system was really important as it is can be difficult to find a suitable solution for in-house legal departments in particular. Implementing a legal panel in multiple jurisdictions has generated consistent and reliable external legal advice and ultimately savings for the business’. Reilly is a trusted advisor to the business and executive directors where people can bounce ideas and problems off him, knowing he will give sound business orientated legal advice. A nominator identifies these qualities highlighting that he has ‘had the good fortune of receiving instructions from Reilly while he has been the head legal counsel for the multinational and multifaceted business of Kingspan. Reilly has been at the helm of the entire legal operation within a multi-jurisdictional company for a number of years and he has really solidified that position as being his own. He has in-depth knowledge of many different areas of law and has a remarkable understanding of his company’s business. He gets the best out of external counsel in a mutually beneficial and professional way. Reilly’s team comprises excellent professionals who think outside of the box and ensure seamless support of corporate transactions. On contentious matters Reilly quickly drills into the key issues and leverages his knowledge to ensure that his company is fully protected through the use of both internal and external counsel. If I had my own company I would select him as my general counsel’.