Law and Justice

COURT ORDERS

MR JUSTICE DONAL O’DONNELL (BCL 1980) became Chief Justice of Ireland in October 2021. He has been a Judge of the Supreme Court since 2010. In April 2021, MR JUSTICE GERARD HOGAN (BCL 1979, LLM 1981 and LLD 1997) was nominated to the Supreme Court of Ireland. He is a former Judge of the Court of Appeal and High Court and is an Advocate General to the European Court of Justice. JUDGE PAUL KELLY (BCL 1978) was appointed President of the District Court in March 2021, following eleven years as a Judge of the District Court. MR PAUL GALLAGHER SC (BCL 1975, BA History and Economics 1978) returned to office as Attorney General of Ireland in June 2020. He previously held this post from 2007 to 2011. In November 2020, Barrister NUALA BUTLER SC (BCL 1984, LLM 1989) was appointed Ordinary Judge to the High Court following a vacancy created by the appointment of MS JUSTICE TERESA PILKINGTON (BA History and Politics 1981, LLM 1997) and her elevation to the Court of Appeal.

IAN NOLAN

MBA 2013

In December 2020, Ian Nolan announced a $28m funding round for his tech start-up Brightflag, an AI-powered platform that enables organisations to take control of their legal spend and reduce administrative effort in processing legal invoices. Co-founded with Alex Kelly in 2014, the company has offices in Dublin, New York and Sydney. Customers include Uber, Telstra and Rimini Street. Nolan previously worked for CORTBase, a software development firm for legal practices.

LUCY MICHAEL

BCL 2001

In July 2020, Dr Lucy Michael was appointed to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. In 2019, Dr Michael established Lucy Michael Consultancy Research & Training, of which she is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Specialist, and Managing Director. She is a spokesperson for Fingal Communities Against Racism as well as a co- convenor for the Sociological Association of Ireland Race & Ethnicity Study Group.

MARY KEANE

BCL 1985

In March 2021, Mary Keane became the first woman to serve as Director General of the Law Society of Ireland in its 191-year history. Keane has worked for the Law Society since 1992, recently holding the post of Deputy Director General. She is the Chair of the National Gallery of Ireland, and a Director of Irish Rule of Law International, a non-profit organisation that promotes rule of law in developing countries.

AEDAMAR COMISKEY

BCL 1988

In May 2021, Aedamar Comiskey was elected Linklaters’ Senior Partner and Chair and is the first female senior partner in the global law firm’s 183-year history. Prior to this appointment, Comiskey was Global Head of Corporate. She currently chairs the Partnership Board. Recognised as a leading public and private M&A lawyer, she leads the firm’s relationships with many FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 clients for whom she is a trusted board adviser. In April 2021, she was named one of the 20 Most Influential People in Legal Services by Financial News.