About

A construction law specialist, a skill honed during his time with Arthur Cox, Darren Isaacson gained his first taste of in-house legal life when he was placed on secondment with Vodafone during his traineeship. ‘It was great to see the contrast in the way you give advice in terms of collegiality and practicality’, he recalls, ‘and there was a real difference in the commercial aspect of the role and how you interact with people. I liked the idea of being part of the business’. In order to broaden his commercial perspective, and with an eye of possibly returning to an in-house position, Isaacson took the proactive step of completing a professional qualification with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants as ‘a grounding in finance and accounts is essential to fully appreciate the commercial environment that businesses operate in as well as the mindset of people within it’. When the opportunity to move in-house with electricity utility company ESB came along in 2011, he took it. When working on projects in ESB ‘I saw my role as being not only part of the legal team but also a part of the project team’, he explains, ‘and as I progressed there was a real sense of being able to add value over and above a purely legal context, and take on increasing responsibility’. Since moving to his current role in September 2016, which he describes as ‘phenomenal’ and considers a personal career highlight, Isaacson has taken charge of improving the contract review, negotiation and education processes, as well as seeking to gradually increase the scope of the role, for instance in the area of data protection. He goes into why he believes the job has been such a success since moving here: ‘I pride myself on explaining legal matters in a manner which can be understood by my colleagues, and I have been able to put my stamp on the department, to the point where the function has grown beyond what was possibly anticipated on day one. I interact with colleagues at all levels and in different functions of the business on a day to day basis’.