What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

On December 18th 2024, I was a key member of the team that helped negotiated the terms of the settlement between Perrigo and its insurers under multiple policies of D&O insurance, providing for the full and final settlement of the Insurance Coverage Litigation dispute. This settlement was a positive development for Perrigo, as Perrigo received $98m by the end of the fiscal year in 2024, and in exchange the plaintiffs agreed to not file an appeal against the previous judgments. We negotiated that the payment was to be received by year end, which necessitated a lot of work behind the scenes with multiple parties to ensure the deadline was met. This finally brought an end to the litigation which had been ongoing since 2021, and helped to support Perrigo’s ongoing defence and settlement of securities class actions in the U.S.

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

The most interesting experience in my career as a lawyer that stands out was my involvement in the Insurance Coverage litigation, which was settled in late December 2024. I was initially brought into the litigation in mid 2023, at a point when it was well advanced as the trial was listed for hearing in November 2023. This litigation was complex, as, at its core, was whether Perrigo was entitled to insurance coverage under the terms of its insurance policies, which would cover its defence of securities class actions in the U.S. that resulted from the initial stock drop that occurred post the Mylan hostile takeover bid.

Although I have experience as a litigator in Ireland, I needed to understand what claims were made in the underlying U.S. securities class actions and how that interacted with the coverage provided under our insurance policies. I worked closely with our U.S. counsel who were defending these claims, and Matheson and the barrister team to defend the Irish litigation. The legal system in America is very different, so it was important that I understood the basics of how securities class actions are litigated. I got the opportunity to attend settlement negotiations in New Jersey which really helped inform how best to manage the litigation before the Irish courts. It also helped that I had prior experience of how the Irish courts system worked and to use that experience to educate the internal Perrigo team on how it operated.

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

An in-house counsel wears many hats. The goal is to become a trusted legal advisor and to be the sounding board for your business partners. It is expected that you know the law, and I think that accepting you will never be an expert in every area you’re asked to advise on is key to being successful. The importance of soft skills cannot be underestimated – you need to be able to translate your legal advice to the business teams and ensure that you are clearly explaining the risks in a manner that is understood.

Embracing uncertainty and seeing opportunities in the unknown is an important attribute for an in-house counsel to have. I joined with no experience in contracting and managed to train myself through practical experience, asking lots of questions and attending any relevant training courses I could find. Having the right mentality and being adaptable to the needs of the business is what will help any in-house lawyer excel in their career.

Finally, it’s also critical that the modern inhouse legal team looks for efficiencies where it can – we must engage with technology and see how it can be used to help manage our workload. There are multiple AI systems that should be analysed and evaluated to see whether they can help reduce the time it takes to do the mundane tasks and leave more time to focus on the strategic goals of your department and company.