Team size: Two

What impact did Brexit have on the financial Industry in Ireland?

Brexit is a very significant change for Irish financial services in the medium to longer term – my view is that the relatively minor changes since 2016 to date are the tip of the iceberg. In the likely event that the UK seeks to chart its own course from a legal, regulatory and tax perspective, this offers huge opportunities to Ireland as our EU status will become more important over time.

In what ways do you see the in-house legal role evolving in your region over the next few years?

The last ten-fifteen years have seen the in-house sector in Ireland explode – Ireland has followed the lead from UK and other jurisdictions to see the benefit in having a strong in-house function to support legal transactions and the wider business. This move will be consolidated over the next period – the calibre of those now seeking to work in-house continues to increase for a variety of reasons, and in-house teams will continue to expand to respond to growing demands on these teams. Large and medium size companies, particularly those in regulated industries including financial services, see the benefit in having dedicated resources who understand their business far better than any external lawyer ever could.

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

During 2021, the RSA Insurance Group was taken over by Intact Financial Corporation of Canada (IFC).

As we enter the next decade, what skills will a corporate legal team need to succeed in the modern in-house industry?

The key skills will continue to be flexibility and agility, in addition to all the usual core legal advisory skills. As regulators become ever more involved in the business of regulated entities, with increasing legislation and regulations, it will be important for the in-house teams to respond to these further demands and to closely support the business through these changes.