Team size: 12

Major legal advisers: Clifford Chance, White & Case, Allen & Overy, Walkers, and A&L Goodbody

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

Notable transaction highlights include the integration of two established aircraft lessor platforms, Accipiter and MC Aviation Partners, into AMCK to create a single leasing and servicing platform, and the official launch of AMCK in October 2019 as a top 20 global aircraft leasing company, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with regional offices in Tokyo, Japan, and Irvine, California, with 145 aircraft under management, representing a total value of $6bn, and a further 30 committed aircraft, including an orderbook with Airbus; and, more recently, the $4.3bn sale to Maverick Aviation, an investment vehicle managed by Carlyle Aviation Partners, of the entire 125 aircraft portfolio of AMCK and Accipiter, which closed in the second quarter of 2022.

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

Firstly, ESG, data privacy and technological innovations have emerged as critical issues for in-house lawyers to grapple with in the coming years as we engage with the business and stakeholders to develop meaningful solutions and an internal governance structure to deal with a rapidly changing regulatory landscape and liability framework. Legal teams will need to collaborate with the business to find ways of embedding ESG solutions, data privacy compliance and technological innovations into the company’s product offering, and incentivising employees, investors and shareholders to contribute towards the significant efforts and resources that will be required to implement long-term sustainable business strategies. Secondly, with Covid-19 and the Ukraine situation creating much havoc and disruption in the markets, legal teams will need to learn to be more proactive in managing distressed situations and have a greater focus on asset and asset value preservation. We need to not just identify the risks and hurdles as far in advance as possible, but also seek to provide viable solutions to navigate those risks and hurdles. It will be a difficult balancing act to protect the company by minimising legal risk while also enabling and contributing to a profitable and successful business. To do that, it is important for in-house lawyers to be ingratiated within the deal teams and to have a strong understanding of what we are trying to achieve with each deal and what we are offering to the customer. Good lawyers are adept at finding creative solutions to deal with bespoke problems and tend to be nimble enough to adapt to new work and industry norms – that flexibility is key.