About

There was no in-house legal function at Heineken Ireland when Orla Joyce joined the international brewer in 2014, initially on a part time basis and subsequently as the full-time head of the legal department. In her three- year careers at the company, Joyce has already made waves, receiving wide praise from external nominators for the steps she has taken to codify processes and build a sophisticated legal function. Previously, Joyce was employed as a the only senior legal counsel at Irish Water, where she guided the business through the various significant legal challenges involved in its establishment and was involved in the state’s privatisation of the water industry. According to Joyce, ‘the setting up of Irish Water has been one of the biggest national projects in the history of the state and one that was extremely challenging and rewarding’. Prior to Irish Water, Joyce briefly worked as a senior lecturer at The Law Society of Ireland and Griffith College Cork. At the start of her career, she spent nearly 17 years at the leading corporate law firm A&L Goodbody.