Team size: Seven (EMEA)

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

More recently, we have probably had a larger focus on privacy, employment and corporate projects due to evolutions in society, technology, and legislation. People and data are a core part of our business, so our privacy initiatives are continuously evolving and require updating. With the development of AI and technology, we are constantly being brought in to advise on emerging aspects for which there might not yet be much in the way of foundation. These advances provided a new way of working, so we have had to consider evolutions in remote working and how that impacts various departments and risk assessments. Changes in the corporate environment have launched a deeper dive into matters like ESG reporting under the CSRD, reviewing our corporate setup, and implementing large scale corporate changes including some internal restructuring.

One large transaction we have been involved in most recently is that we have moved our parent company to Ireland and continue to implement corporate updates and updated procedures in light of that change. It was a large transaction due to the many moving parts, but exciting to be a part of. We are also working on other projects surrounding our investments in other firms and our strategic partnerships.

How do you see the general counsel role evolving in Ireland over the next five-ten years?

There was a time when we spoke about whether legal advisers should have ‘a seat at the table’ alongside the role of legal becoming that of a trusted business advisor vs problem solver. Based on conversations I have had, and initiatives that our development team are exploring for our firm, I imagine that our role will continue to evolve in that direction. We will probably reach a point where our business contacts will be those at the highest levels in the firm, with us advising on large scale and high impact transactions or internal changes and policies.

If technology and AI continue to evolve along the current lines of thinking, questions about laws or documents and contract reviews will be automated, so we will be called upon more for our strategic thinking capabilities, risk assessment and ability to try to think ahead and around corners. We are already seeing a difference in how we train the next generation of in-house lawyers, and the skills employers are looking for.

How important is choosing to work with external lawyers who align with your company’s values? Are you likely to reconsider what firms you work with based on this?

Extremely; law firms are being expected to be a partner to the in-house lawyer. They need to be able to understand how we work and what our priorities are, and help advise us towards those same goals. A trusted law firm colleague once told me that as in-house lawyers we “have a day job in addition to the projects we bring law firms in on, for law firms, these projects are the day job” which stuck with me. It would be difficult to work with a firm that does not share our values and goals as they would potentially become another party, to negotiate rather than work with. Law firms are another resource and valued advisor to the firm, so we need to be able to trust what they offer and counsel.