About

Senior legal counsel at Horizon Pharma since May 2015, Anne-Marie Dempsey is praised highly for her superior understanding of the pharmaceutical industry. Formerly Shire Pharma’s pioneer lawyer outside the UK and US, Anne-Marie Dempsey had a big task ahead of her when she joined the global business in 2007. ‘Starting and developing the legal function in Ireland has been an exciting process’, Dempsey said, prior to the move. ‘In 2007 we had two Shire Irish companies; now we have 25 companies and branches. I was responsible for the set up and administration of each of these companies, working cross-functionally and on multi-jurisdictional teams as required’. During her time heading legal and company secretarial support for Shire’s global HQ, Dempsey played a pivotal role in the company’s rapid international expansion. ‘Being geographically separated from clients and indeed legal colleagues can often mean the volume and variety of work going through Ireland is not necessarily apparent elsewhere’, she said. ‘This does not affect business or patients, but is simply a personal challenge in managing my own priorities’. Her experience of working with outside counsel, nationally, has been largely positive. ‘I believe the top law firms in Ireland are excellent, the only very small thing I can think of is that sometimes they tend to retain documentation after a major transaction and need a reminder to send all paperwork back to us after the main event!’