Ten years ago, the number of in-house lawyers working in Ireland could be counted on one hand. But when the Celtic Tiger awoke, a raft of multinational corporations poured into Ireland and a new breed of corporate counsel was born.
As president of the Corporate and Public Services Solicitors’ Association (CPSSA), and an in-house lawyer with the National Treasury Management Agency (the NTMA), Anne Counihan has witnessed the rise of Ireland’s in-house lawyers. “In-house lawyers are held in very high regard these days and are far more influential than they were in the past,” says Counihan. “They are seen as ‘go ahead’, active and imaginative people and are highly respected in corporations and law firms alike. It is becoming increasingly the norm in Ireland for corporations to have their own in-house legal departments. That was not the case 10 or 12 years ago.”
