Team size: Nine

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

My current role is head of the Irish legal team. The team is responsible for supporting Northern Trust’s asset servicing business which provides depositary, fund administration, management services to AIF and UCITS funds and other outsourced solutions supporting asset owners’ and asset manager’s requirements. My team support the Ireland business, while also working very closely with the EMEA legal team.

Key highlights during 2023 include advising the business during the sales process and negotiation of service agreements for multiple large, multi-jurisdictional business wins.

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

I expect open engagement by my legal department with our business colleagues. This includes ongoing participation on all projects and product initiatives from an early stage; providing formal and informal training and assistance to our business colleagues on legal and regulatory changes impacting the business; and participation in BRC’s and other initiatives within Northern Trust. Northern Trust annual Achieve Greater Together month, in which partners can volunteer two full working days is a great opportunity for the Irish legal team to integrate with our business colleagues and participate as one organisation. I encourage my team to have meetings, face-to-face if possible, or phone calls rather than solely relying on email as a form of communication with our business colleagues. This reduces time spent on an issue and contributes to a closer working relationship with the business in general.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation? 

I have always taken an active role engaging with my organisation to influence diversity and inclusion policies and practices. Most notably, I have been Executive Sponsor of our LGBT+ employee-led Business Resource Council, NT Pride for the last three years, driving efforts to raise awareness and confidence across the firm on LGBT+ inclusion by participating on Allyship panels, profiling LGBT+ employees, encouraging senior leadership teams to engage with Pride, and advocating for greater participation on our Inclusive Leadership Manager trainings. Proudly, last year, I was recognised on LGBT Great’s Top 50 Executive Allies 2023 list, which celebrates senior leaders in financial services who have used their platform, influence and role to ally and sponsor the LGBT+ community.

As a member of our Ireland executive management group, I also support the assessment and review of critical DE&I interventions and commitments to bolster inclusion and advancement of diverse talent in our Ireland offices. In May 2022, Northern Trust agreed to sign the Irish Women in Finance Charter to improve gender balance in management and board level positions within financial service firms. As part of this commitment, we annually review our target (48% women in senior management roles by December 2025), and what can be done to drive progress. As of March 2024, we reached 46% and are on track to meet our goal.

This year, we will also be piloting Intercultural Competency trainings aimed to provide insight into the notion of Intercultural Competence and tools for senior leadership to better unify across differences in the workplace. The programme will also explore legal, professional, and informal approaches to anti-racism in the workplace, and encourage us, as culture carriers, to consider how we can improve our relationships and effectiveness working across diverse teams.

I also believe that driving change can be achieved through cumulative and consistent acts of allyship and inclusion, such as making time to review our DE&I team’s external partnership agreements, being a guest speaker and interviewing women for our bespoke internal leadership programme, and agreeing to mentor and support junior and mid-management staff to enhance peer-to-peer support and shared learning.

It is important for me to continually welcome, value, and embed intentionally inclusive practices in my organisation, and encourage other senior leaders and executives to do the same. I hope to use my influence and experience to drive meaningful change in my organisation, as well as enable equitable opportunities for all to succeed and contribute to our industry’s advancement and performance.