About

Orla Dunlea began her role as head of legal and compliance at Novartis Ireland in November 2018. Prior to that, she was international legal counsel and company secretary at Endo International, a branded and generic pharmaceutical company with headquarters in Ireland for four years, giving her approximately five years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Dunlea started her legal career in A&L Goodbody and over the years gained multi-jurisdictional experience spanning a wide variety of industries, including pharmaceutical, technology, insurance and aviation. During this time she gained experience in a wide variety of areas of law including company, corporate governance, employment, litigation, M&A, property, contractual and compliance matters. She highlights that ‘as an in-house lawyer, I like to consider myself as a pragmatic business partner as well as a legal advisor. Understanding the business and its challenges assists in doing a good job. I like to bring energy to work and a customer service mind set and to get involved in different activities outside of the strict day job’. She says that ‘as an in-house lawyer, you work side by side with your client and employer, as with any job, building relationships throughout the organisation is critical. There is an increasing adoption of digital solutions which will change the way lawyers work. I try to adopt an open mind set and embrace these changes’.