Team size: 15

What are some of the legal challenges that IT companies face in the development and use of emerging technologies in their products?

IT companies face the challenge of effective use of data and technology to navigate through an ever more complex regulatory and ethical landscape. Political and regulatory intervention can be brought on due to political expediency or general misunderstanding of the risk and benefits to such technological advancements. It will continue to be a challenge to develop and maintain consumer trust in such emerging technologies with the rise in consumer scepticism towards new technologies and their privacy rights. Getting the right balance between data subject privacy rights, technological advancement and law enforcement requirements is emphasised more than ever, whilst maintaining excellent user experience for the consumer. The issue of patent trolling will continue to distract and drain resources of IT companies.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

The in-house legal role will evolve further towards a business role whilst providing strategic business advice from a legal perspective, instead of being considered a pure support function to other areas of the business. Legal qualifications and experience will only be a ‘hygiene factor’ for a senior in-house legal roles with the ability to bring business knowledge, critical thinking, and expertise integral to the role. In Ireland, in-house teams will further develop a bench of talent from the barrister ranks to other non-traditional backgrounds including technical expertise, legal operations, and other non-lawyer roles.

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Squarespace became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) via direct listing, recorded as the nineth company to go public via direct listing. Prior to becoming a public company, Squarespace completed a $300m private funding round. We expanded our in-country operations to include the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Australia in addition to existing locations. Squarespace acquired ‘Tock’, providing the online reservations, table management, takeout, and event management system. Our team partnered with Dolly Parton for our Superbowl advert by rewriting and releasing her iconic song, ‘9 to 5’ as a rallying cry for entrepreneurs everywhere called ‘5 to 9’. Co-marketing with Netflix and John McEnroe, we participated in a campaign centred on McEnroe’s career transition from tennis legend to voiceover legend.

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

Developing and maintaining mutually satisfying relationships, built on trust and compassion, corporate legal teams are encouraged to have more empathy for the perspectives of other teams. Multiple perspectives including problem solving, reality testing and impulse control need to be considered to make decisions as legal advisor of the organisation.