About

With broad commercial experience gained across Ireland and Australia, Michelle Geraghty is a veteran in-house lawyer with impressive transactional and organisational experience. During her time at Ion Trading, she supported the acquisition of several companies and integrated all legal functions in a short space of time. ‘While challenging, it was a great learning experience’, Geraghty says. ‘After five years with the same company, it was a great reminder that every company’s customer profile, risk profile and processes are different and that it is important to approach each commercial task with fresh eyes and context’. As the first in-house lawyer to join internet infrastructure specialist Afilias’ EMEA operations, Geraghty has spent her first six months in the role reviewing and refining all processes to optimise speed and efficiency. As a contracts lawyer, she is highly aware of the needs to balance legal protection against commercial goals and deadline. ‘I’ve learned the key to achieving this is communication’, she says. ‘Knowing the business and working closely with the relevant teams to fully understand the extent of the risks in each particular case is vital, since one size does not fit all!’