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

The procurement legal team predominantly provides legal support to the global procurement team, which is mostly based at Perrigo’s headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. One of the most exciting projects the team has provided support on relates to the first ever FDA approved over the counter contraceptive pill, Opill, which launched in the US in 2024. This was a cross functional effort by many different business units within Perrigo, with the procurement legal team being at the forefront of the legal support.

I was also heavily involved in an extremely complex Insurance coverage dispute relating to Perrigo’s insurance coverage concerning securities actions in the US before the Irish Commercial Court. This involved planning, preparation and running of that trial in November last year which resulted in a positive decision for Perrigo.

On a day-to-day basis, the legal team engages in contract reviews and negotiations, providing legal advice and helping our business partners navigate any legal disputes that arise.

As a general counsel, how do you anticipate and prepare for potential legal and regulatory challenges that may arise, particularly in light of emerging technologies and evolving business landscapes?

Continuing Professional Development is key to keeping on top of any new legislative and regulatory requirements which may impact the legal advice being provided to our business. It is more important than ever to be agile and flexible and able to meet the evolving demands of our business.

Most law firms offer very helpful CPD events throughout the year, where you hear from experts, and get the opportunity to network and discuss with other in-house professionals. These law firms often send out helpful circulars by email, where you can become aware of upcoming legislation at both national and European level which may have an impact on the legal advice being provided.

How have you attempted to bring the legal department closer to your business colleagues?

Perrigo’s legal department sees itself as a trusted legal advisor and wants to work alongside our business to help achieve our goals. We try to ensure that our business colleagues understand legal’s function, which is to balance helping the business achieve its business goals and manage the risk for the company. To achieve this, we hold regular training sessions, during which we explain the structure of the legal team and the risks we are trying to avoid while remaining solutions oriented.

Having open dialogues with our business colleagues helps improve the understanding on both sides – legal needs to understand what the business priorities are, and the business team need to understand how legal wants to protect the business.

How does the in-house legal function contribute to the overall dispute resolution strategy of the organisation?

Early engagement with the in-house legal function once the business becomes aware of a potential dispute is very important. Once legal is aware of a potential dispute, we review the applicable contractual framework, identify the risks and any mitigation strategies and help guide our business partners in their discussions as they consider whether they can resolve the dispute. An important benefit of engaging the in-house team early is that we can remind the business of discovery obligations and the importance of not deleting any emails or relevant documents should they be required in the future if the matter goes to full litigation.

Our approach is to stay in the background, guiding the team through their discussions, and if needed, attend any negotiations with the other party’s lawyers. What we have found helpful in the past is taking the businesspeople out of the conversation and having an unprejudiced discussion with the other sides’ legal team. That way, we can have an open and frank discussion and gauge whether there is any appetite for settlement. There are times where compromise is not possible, and so where litigation is either required or unavoidable, we help the business team by engaging external counsel and helping them understand how the courts process works.