Fiftyfaces Focus - Inspiring People in the Law Aoifinn Devitt

Maud Sarlieve is an expert in International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and a leading authority in the development of creative legal thinking to address the environmental and climate crisis.  Her professional commitments and casework have taken her to conflict and post conflict environments in SE Asia, the Middle East, Central and East Africa, Latin America, The Balkans and Eastern Europe. She is currently Judge Assessor with the French National Court of Asylum, a Founder of CTRL-Z – focused on climate and environmental justice in addition to numerous other roles. Our conversation starts with Maud's path into international law, which did involve some twists and turns. We discuss her early years in practice and some of her early assignments and what she learned from each one. We discuss then how she applies development of creative legal thinking to enable the evolution of approaches in areas involving the environmental and climate crisis.  We discuss the crime of ecocide and how it is defined, and explore how the war in Ukraine is heightening awareness of this issue. As in many podcasts in this series we discuss diversity in law, and the mindset required to practice in fields that can involve protracted processes, that can, in some cases, stretch out for many years.  This podcast is brought to you with the kind support of DLA Piper Ireland. https://www.dlapiper.com/en-ma/locations/dublin

Susan Ahern who is a barrister, international arbitrator and accredited mediator with a specialization in sports law and regulation. She is currently Chair of the Sports Law Bar Association of Ireland, and formerly was General Counsel for World Rugby/ Rugby World Cup limited. She has over 25 years experience as an iNED including RTE, World Wheelchair Rugby, UCI Cycling World Championships, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board and the Residential Tenancies Board. Our conversation starts with her high school journey and the first time that competitive sports entered her life.  From shot-put to volley-ball she excelled at whatever she turned to, and this continued into college life and beyond, when she played volleyball at a National level. We trace then her path from studying law, which took a surprising, yet productive tour into banking, and then back to law when she became an in-house counsel at a sporting organization. We trace then the evolution of sports law as an area of law, and draw a parallel with sports and its professionalization.  Susan compares running a legal department to captaining a sports team, because of the collective purpose and mutual support and engagement inherent in that. Sports law has evolved significantly over the last decade and both the commercial and regulatory aspect have broadened so much that it is now difficult to bridge both aspects as Susan did throughout her career.  However, the richness inherent in it has led to the development of entire sports law departments and therefore multiple career opportunities. Susan also holds a number of non-executive roles and Board roles and she provides insight as to what it takes to be successful in these roles as well as the skills needed to be a successful arbitrator. After a detailed discussion of diversity and its evolution in both the field of law and sports, we turn to some personal reflections which, as might be expected, also come from inspirational sporting images.  We are reminded to "live our dreams, awake in action". 

Karen Killalea is a Partner and Head of Employment at Maples Group Ireland.  She has over 20 years of experience in advising employers on employment law, disputes, change, compliance and HR best practice. Our conversation starts with Karen's thirst for adventure which developed early and she put into action during her college years.  We learn about the benefit of not having a set plan, living by one's wits and of breaking into a new educational and work culture.  From London to Italy to Dublin, Karen charts her early years in legal practice and how she was drawn to employment law.The discussion reveals that employment law has evolved to incorporate a set of complex issues that are really a staging ground for so many issues of our time - from the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to empowering people and setting new standards in the aftermath of Covid. We look at the evolution of the regulatory backdrop as well as the changing complexity of the workplace.  This gives rise to an intellectually stimulating and challenging legal backdrop in which empathy and an appreciation for human behavior is key.  This is also an area that is getting increasingly more sensitive and high profile, so a fascinating time to be in practice.We move then to discuss some of the Karen's other adventures from skiing to cycling to traveling the world. The Maples Group, through its leading international law firm, Maples and Calder, advises global financial, institutional, business and private clients on the laws of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Jersey, and Luxembourg. With offices in key jurisdictions around the world, the Maples Group has specific strengths in areas of corporate commercial, finance, investment funds, litigation and trusts. In Ireland, the law firm provides full service and specialty Irish legal services and is the leading international law firm in the jurisdiction.The Maples Group firmly believes that embracing diversity and inclusion fosters a better culture of sound decision making leading to enhanced results and better all-round performance. Its Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group has responsibility for measurable progress in the promotion of diversity and inclusion across the Group.Among other targeted strategies to promote Diversity and Inclusion, the Maples Group offers scholarship programmes, employee training seminars, formal mentoring programmes, extensive leadership development retreats and ongoing professional coaching to attract, retain and advance a diverse workforce, to promote equitable and inclusive workplace practices and to foster both employee engagement and a positive working culture.In addition to partnering with industry specific working groups, such as Women in ETFs and 100 Women in Finance, the Maples Group was recently one of the first law firms in Ireland to sign up to the Ireland for Finance, Women in Finance Charter. The Charter is an industry-led, government-supported measure to encourage gender diversity in the financial services industry in Ireland. As a signatory to the Charter, the Group has committed to progress gender diversity and is participating in voluntary reporting.

David Carthy is Managing Partner Ireland of DLA Piper.  He was previously a partner at William Fry in Dublin as well as President of the Irish Exporters Association..  He previously spent over 7 years with the Ireland India Business Association where he spent 5 years as Chairman.  Our conversation starts with David's path into law and his early focus on the commercial aspects of his practice.  He was intentional about building business networks through trade bodies and held various leadership roles in groups that grew in relevance as Ireland's role in international trade increased.Moving to his role as Managing Parter Ireland at DLA Piper we detail how he built the business from scratch - where he was the first employee in 2018 to over 110 lawyers today.  He details how he looked to other branch offices of the firm in order to develop a model as to how to grow the Dublin office and began to recruit using a values-based approach.  The values that he focuses on are a global perspective - a comfort level with working with team members in a network around the world, as well as a boldness and comfort level with change.  Finally, he seeks team members who are genuinely collaborative and go beyond paying lip service to this notion.When the values are aligned around growth, collaboration and reach goals in this way, the organization grows in a cohesive way that can be diverse by design.  David describes the intentionality with which he approached developing a diverse workforce and the office has significant female representation at all levels.  We end with some words of wisdom relating to the satisfaction of working in teams and the introduction of balance between one's professional and personal life. 

In our first legal series of 2023 we are delighted to bring together three voices from the Irish legal scene and one from the UK bar.  We discuss the challenge of employment law and its evolution, how to build a branch office of a law firm from scratch through focusing on values, the benefits of professional sport and legal practice and the burgeoning and fast-paced development of the field of Sports law. We look first a model for building a firm from scratch, by scrupulously focusing on values and being intentional about diversity.  We move from building businesses to the intricate business of navigating employment law, where we meet Karen Killalea, partner of Maples Ireland who infuses this area with enthusiasm as a staging ground for so many of the issues of our time around human capital.In our discussion of sport we hear from Susan Ahern, an arbitrator and sports law expert  about the explosive of growth of this area and Susan also shares her best practice in arbitration and directorships.   Finally, we move from sports law into the practical world of sport and hear from barrister in training and one-time multi-sport professional Christian Scotland Williamson about the passion he has for teamwork, showing up and delivering his all, thanks to his time playing in the NFL. The guests of Series 1 of 2023 are:David Carthy, Managing Partner Ireland of DLA Piper as well as former President of the Irish Exporters Association. He was previously a partner at William Fry in Dublin.  He previously spent over 7 years with the Ireland India Business Association here he spent 5 years as Chairman.  Karen Killalea, Partner and Head of Employment at Maples Group Ireland.  She has over 20 years of experience in advising employers on employment law, disputes, change, compliance and HR best practice. Susan Ahern, who is a barrister, international arbitrator and accredited mediator with a specialization in sports law and regulation. She is currently Chair of the Sports Law Bar Association of Ireland, and formerly was General Counsel for World Rugby/ Rugby World Cup limited. She has over 25 years experience as an iNED including RTE, World Wheelchair Rugby, UCI Cycling World Championships, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board and the Residential Tenancies Board. Christian Scotland Williamson is a two sport athlete who played Premiership rugby at a professional level in the UK, and then moved to the US where he played NFL football with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While playing sport he completed an MSc in International Business and he is currently pursuing a course to become a barrister and is a broadcaster for TalkSport.

Christian Scotland-Williamson is a two sport athlete who played Premiership rugby at a professional level in the UK, and then moved to the US where he played NFL football with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While playing sport he completed an MSc in International Business and he is currently pursuing a course to become a barrister and is a broadcaster for TalkSport.Our conversation - being released as a bonus in advance of our 2023 Inspiring People in Law series - dives into the world of high performance sport and the mindset and preparation that lead to success.  We also examine the importance of maintaining breadth and resisting the urge to specialize too early, and then compare the professional sports worlds of both the US and the UK, where Christian has had experience of both. In discussing sport we draw upon the wisdom of legendary coaches who are relentless in setting expectations, standards and drawing the most out of their team members. We then turn to discussing the next chapter for Christian - training as a barrister, and why this career appealed to him.  He talks about mentors who have inspired him in this arena too, including Margaret Casely-Hayford, whose own podcast appears here: https://www.fiftyfaceshub.com/dr-margaret-casely-hayford-cbe-a-renaissance-career-for-a-changing-world/This is an inspiring story of resilience and personal growth.