Team size: Nine

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

In 2021, Vodafone Group Plc sold 18.3 percent of its interest in Vantage Towers AG on the Frankfurt stock exchange, enabling the realisation of €2.3bn in value whilst retaining a majority interest and management control. Our legal team managed the creation of the Irish Vantage Towers company, which owns and operates 1200 towers in Ireland and forms part of the Vantage Towers Group which was the subject of the IPO.

Vodafone Ireland and the ESB are 50 percent shareholders in Siro, a 100 percent fibre-to-the-building network, built on the ESB infrastructure. Together we have just completed a €620m re-financing project in Siro, to expand its fibre-to-the-home broadband network and to bring super-fast broadband to even more homes across Ireland. This connectivity plan is even more important in the post-pandemic Ireland to enable remote working for everyone.

Our legal team worked on an agile basis with our loT team to launch the Neo product, a Disney-themed smart watch for young children that allows them stay in touch with their parents through calls and chat. The legal team provided end to end legal support on the launch of this Smart Tech product, which covered a variety of issues such as privacy, IP, consumer, and cyber law. We have also managed all the legal work on the launch of Clear Mobile, a Vodafone sub-brand offering a different proposition to Irish mobile consumers, with the benefits of a super-fast network. The team were involved at every stage of the brand launch from ideation to inception, to current in-life management.

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

As we enter an era of increased regulation and as regulators such as ComReg and the CCPC get enhanced powers, regulatory compliance will be more prominent in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). This will result in the need for enhanced collaboration between the legal, compliance, risk, privacy, and corporate security functions. The in-house lawyers will be called upon to be thought leaders, strategic advisors, and risk managers as often as they are asked to opine on the law. Our team members will be called upon to be part of larger, agile teams in the business, engaged in various sprint projects, so we will continue to work cross-functionally with other business teams. I think most in-house lawyers will need at least a basic understanding of GDPR and privacy rights, which regardless of the industry, will cut across almost all legal advice in the next decade. Finally, I think a strong commercial acumen is more important than ever, it is crucial to know the business and not just the law.