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‘There was a time when businesses constantly bought external legal advice’, Orla Joyce says. ‘I think Irish companies are now increasingly recognising the value of an in-house counsel. It’s not just about receiving that advice, it’s getting the commercial view’. The number of senior in-house roles has noticeably risen Joyce believes, and it is a trend she feels is set to continue. ‘I definitely see green shoots there – it is something that will develop and grow in my view’. There was no legal function or in-house counsel at Heineken’s Ireland base, two and a half years ago, and what began as a part-time role had snowballed into a full time position, when Joyce arrived in 2014. Over the past year, Joyce has been praised for the steps she has taken to codify processes and build a more sophisticated in-house function. In her previous and first in-house role at Bord Gáis, Joyce supported the state’s controversial privatisation of the water industry. ‘As the only senior legal counsel for the Irish water programme, initially I guided the business through the various significant legal challenges involved in its establishment’, she explains. ‘The setting up of Irish Water has been one of the biggest national projects in the history of the state and one that was extremely challenging and rewarding for me’. She previously practised for a number of years at A&L Goodbody, and having seen things from both sides of the table, Joyce stresses the need for flexibility. ‘Businesses want to see external legal advisors as their partners. Law firms should be very proactive in promoting different initiatives and ways of working to benefit its clients – especially longstanding ones’. She is also a firm believer in the benefits of client secondments. ‘You get to see what happens with your advices from start to finish. I think that’s very important’. Joyce is a senior lecturer at The Law Society and Griffin College Cork.