Team size: c1,000 (of which c100 are the Legal team)

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

I have been lucky to have been asked to get involved in non-legal areas as well as legal areas. In ICON, as well as our Legal team, our Contracts, Quality Assurance, Real Estate, Procurement and Symphony Health (our US healthcare data business) all report to me. Having a legal background helps in managing other areas as you are used to assessing, managing and fixing issues. The model of the General Counsel also being the Chief Administrative Officer is more popular in the US than Ireland, but I expect we might see more of it in Ireland.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

You need to work well with others and give focused (e.g. short), action-oriented advice that gets to the point quickly and shows how issues can be addressed and resolved.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

It goes without saying, but the highly uncertain and ever changing evolving global macro business environment must be constantly monitored.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am a Board member of the Jack & Jill charity which does tremendous work for sick children and their parents who really need support and help. It’s a brilliant charity.