About

‘It is all about deal delivery, innovation, lateral thinking’. As the first in-house lawyer to join BNP Parabis Ireland, Davina Saint built a highly regarded seven-lawyer function, supporting Dublin, London, Paris and New York. ‘We are a recognised centre of excellence in the BNP Paribas Group for supply chain transactions and global trade transactions’, Saint says. Providing legal support to sophisticated, high value trade transactions, Saint also oversees governance and takes an active role in determining strategy. ‘Every day is very different’, Saint says. ‘I meet and work with a lot of brilliant people who are very stimulating, fun and dedicated. It’s good nearly every day’. When it comes to outside law firms, ‘commerciality’, she says, is one key area for improvement. ‘Almost always, “done” is better than “perfect” and sometimes I just feel we all get overkill of what would be a “nice to have” and what is actually a “must have”’.