About

James Ireland looks back fondly on his first in-house legal role, both for the specific legal skills he developed and the interpersonal abilities he honed which he considers indispensable to his subsequent success. ‘My first in-house role was an important example of the importance of establishing a close working relationship with the business and ensuring all stakeholders are aligned during both the good and the challenging times. It was a very important lesson in building relationships and trust within a business’, Ireland says of his time with Istithmar World. Having joined in August 2008, his position with the company during the height of the financial crisis was also formative, and taught him ‘the importance of attention to detail, and communication within a team, and how these factors relates to actual real world issues; and to recognise when considering asset acquisition or divestment, the difference between price versus value’. After working there for almost five years and following the establishment of the first legal function of RAK Gas, Ireland joined Abu Dhabi Terminals in early 2016. Here, his effect on the in-house legal function of the company has been extremely pronounced; perhaps most notably, he has successfully bridged the legal function with the strategic and commercial element of the business through his promotion as general counsel to the senior management of the company. ‘The promotion of the general counsel to the c-suite at Abu Dhabi Terminals has been one of the main highlights of my career’, Ireland says. ‘This was evidence of the right engagement with senior decision-makers and stakeholders. As part of the Abu Dhabi Terminals senior management team, my role has expanded to cover certain strategy, commercial, and cost efficiency matters, as well as continuing to promote a corporate culture that maintains the highest possible standards of legal and ethical behaviour’. He has also enjoyed success on some major projects with the company during his time there, including the negotiating and signing AED1bn of equipment purchase contracts over a nine month period for the Khalifa Port expansion project.