Diarmaid Cunningham – GC Powerlist
GC Powerlist Logo
Ireland 2025

Healthcare

Diarmaid Cunningham

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel | ICON plc

Download

Ireland 2025

legal500.com/gc-powerlist/

Recommended Individual

Diarmaid Cunningham

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel | ICON plc

Team size: c1,000 (of which c100 are the Legal team)

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

I have been lucky to have been asked to get involved in non-legal areas as well as legal areas. In ICON, as well as our Legal team, our Contracts, Quality Assurance, Real Estate, Procurement and Symphony Health (our US healthcare data business) all report to me. Having a legal background helps in managing other areas as you are used to assessing, managing and fixing issues. The model of the General Counsel also being the Chief Administrative Officer is more popular in the US than Ireland, but I expect we might see more of it in Ireland.

What do you think are the most important attributes for a modern in-house counsel to possess?

You need to work well with others and give focused (e.g. short), action-oriented advice that gets to the point quickly and shows how issues can be addressed and resolved.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

It goes without saying, but the highly uncertain and ever changing evolving global macro business environment must be constantly monitored.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about?

I am a Board member of the Jack & Jill charity which does tremendous work for sick children and their parents who really need support and help. It’s a brilliant charity.

Diarmaid Cunningham - Ireland 2024

Chief administrative officer, general counsel | ICON

View Powerlist
Diarmaid Cunningham - Ireland 2022

Chief administrative officer and general counsel | ICON

View Powerlist
Diarmaid Cunningham - Ireland 2019

Chief administrative officer, general counsel and executive vice president | ICON

After 10 years in private practice with A&L Goodbody, Diarmaid Cunningham left the firm in 2009 to join ICON as general counsel. In 2009 the ICON legal function was not...

View Powerlist
Diarmaid Cunningham - Ireland 2015

General Counsel, EVP & Company Secretary | Icon PLC

Market-leading contract research organisation ICON operates across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. A well-known figure in Irish legal circles, sources particularly highlight Diarmaid Cunningham’s role in developing a...

View Powerlist
Diarmaid Cunningham - Ireland 2017

Chief administrative officer, general counsel, executive vice president and company secretary | ICON

Diarmaid Cunningham developed a reputation for excellence during the early days of his career, when he worked for law firm A&L Goodbody for 10 years as a private practice lawyer....

View Powerlist

Related Powerlists

ICON Legal

ICON

View Powerlist

Celia Alejandra Gallardo Medina

Legal associate

ICON

View Powerlist

Ciara Farrell

Global head of legal compliance and ethics

ICON

View Powerlist

Simon Hollywood

Senior vice president legal and associate general counsel

ICON

View Powerlist

ICON Legal

ICON

View Powerlist

Diarmaid Cunningham

Chief administrative officer, general counsel

ICON

View Powerlist

Celia Alejandra Gallardo Medina

Legal associate

ICON

View Powerlist

Ciara Farrell

Global head of legal compliance and ethics

ICON

View Powerlist