About

Elaine Breen has deep experience within large financial companies, having held several positions such as a senior in-house counsel, head of compliance, chief risk officer and company secretary. In May 2016, she joined BlackBee as the head of legal and compliance and later became the general counsel. A specialist in IP and commercial property laws, as well as risk management and compliance, Breen has a diploma in commercial property, a LLM, and certificates in international risk management and compliance and is currently working towards the New York Bar Exams. She was a member of the IP and technology law committee for the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association for many years and is also a member of the Association of Compliance Officers of Ireland. She is a committee member on the in-house legal committee for the Southern Legal Association. Further demonstrating her involvement in industry affairs, Breen was a judge on the judging panel for the International Compliance Awards 2019 which took place in London in March 2019 and is an assessor for the Good Governance Awards 2019, and a judge for the Irish Early Careers Awards. Discussing her career, Breen identifies a number of key highlights. She highlights the importance of ‘being a finalist in the inaugural as a relatively newly qualified solicitor [as] external recognition is very encouraging’. She says that being part of judging panels for various external and international awards has shown her how diverse and integral in-house counsel are and ‘holding various roles… has given me an all roundedness within financial institutions. With a variety of workload, it’s important to be resourceful within this field and being responsive, taking a commercial approach and staying informed are critical to the workings of a [an industry renowned] good working legal department’.