What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

The past twelve months have been arguably the busiest, most challenging and most interesting of my 15 years as GC at Avolon.

The biggest project was leading all aspects of Avolon’s litigation against its insurers in relation to aircraft detained in Russia. This was a matter of unprecedented complexity and scale involving a large external counsel team which started in 2022, went to trial in the Irish High Court in June 2024, and culminated in a commercial resolution with Avolon receiving $177m in settlement proceeds and discontinuing the proceedings in January 2025.

In January 2025, Avolon also completed the major corporate acquisition of Castlelake Aviation Limited, bringing with it over 100 aircraft on lease to airlines around the world. The transaction was negotiated, documented and closed over several months, with periods of intense deal activity often coinciding with key moments in the insurance litigation, so it was a challenge to manage all of the various concurrent workstreams at all times.

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

I have been fortunate to have spent almost my entire career in aircraft leasing, a dynamic global industry, with Ireland at its heart, which has provided me with many memorable experiences.

The most unique of these was the imposition of sanctions on Russia in February 2022, which required lessors to terminate leases and recover their aircraft from Russian airlines, but which were swiftly followed by the Russian government making it illegal for Russian airlines to give aircraft back to lessors. These were huge and immediate changes of law affecting billions of dollars’ worth of aircraft. At Avolon we immediately formed a multi-functional action team with specialists from across the business working together, often around the clock, to manage the rapidly evolving situation. We succeeded in recovering some of our aircraft and engines in a very short window of opportunity before it became impossible to do so.

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

Communication skills: it is more important than ever to be able to quickly assess and distil complex matters and to present advice clearly and succinctly.

A business-focused mindset: understanding the organisation and industry in which you operate is a must for you to be able to provide a strategic contribution to the business, not limited to legal matters.

Building relationships: the modern GC needs to foster relationships with all key internal and external stakeholders to become and remain a really trusted advisor.

Adaptability: in a fast-paced environment, new challenges can often arrive unexpectedly, so being able to adapt and to be confident in unfamiliar circumstances is important. The advance of AI and legal technology also means that the nature of the in-house role is changing, bringing opportunity for increased efficiency and productivity.