Partner & Practice Group Leader, Projects
- B Comm, University of New South Wales, Australia
- LL B, University of New South Wales, Australia
- Admitted as a Legal Practitioner of the Supreme Court (New South Wales, Australia) 1995
- Admitted as a Barrister & Solicitor (New Zealand) 2002
- Admitted as a Solicitor (Ireland) 2003
- Admitted as a Solicitor (Northern Ireland) 2004
I qualified in Australia in 1995 at a time when the energy sector was undergoing significant reform. I was fortunate to become heavily involved in some of the most significant structural and regulatory reform projects in the sector in the late 1990's, culminating in a secondment to the NSW Electricity Reform Taskforce to work on the implementation of the National Electricity Market. This was a wonderful opportunity and sparked a strong desire to continue to be involved energy sector projects and market reform.
With six years' post qualification Australian experience, and a strong desire to travel and work abroad, the opportunity to be involved in the initial liberalisation of the Irish energy sector was too good to resist. Arthur Cox appealed because the firm gave me the freedom to develop my own practice. To the firm's credit, it recognised the strategic significance of the energy sector and supported me in developing a new practice. I moved to Dublin in December 2000, was made partner in 2004 and the energy practice in Arthur Cox is now widely recognised as being the market leader in Ireland.
The energy practice is part of the broader Arthur Cox Projects group, which comprises of lawyers providing specialist services in key infrastructure and utilities sectors including energy, telecommunications, transport, health, education, manufacturing and waste. We offer a fully integrated service to our clients in these sectors including procurement, environment and planning, regulatory and commercial advice, construction, project financing and PPP. We have a diverse client base, including government departments, regulators, utilities, market participants, lenders and customers. We believe that this structure is ideally suited to meet the needs of our clients and represents the future for Irish law firms.
Utilities sectors are a dynamic and challenging environment. There are few areas of practice where the marketplace, laws, regulations and technology are changing so rapidly. The nature of my work frequently involves balancing a number of considerations - social policy, political issues environmental concerns, financial and economic factors, as well as having to have a detailed understanding of the sectors in which I am working. Some of the projects I have most enjoyed have included participating in the development of new regulatory regimes regarding offshore wind farms, upstream gas fields and gas pipelines and the downstream gas transportation regime.
I find my role as partner in Arthur Cox rewarding because my expertise in a particular area was acknowledged and I was given the freedom to develop my own practice area. As the sector continues to develop, with new markets being established and the markets in the Republic and Northern Ireland being merged, there are plenty of challenges to keep us occupied in coming years.
