Queen’s graduate lands top job at Belfast law firm 
20 July 2015
Lisa McLaughlin, an LLB 2001 graduate of Queen’s University, has recently been made Director of the Herbert Smith Freehills' (HSF) office in Belfast.
Ms McLaughlin succeeds Libby Jackson, who led the Belfast office since it opened four years ago, and who has also recently been promoted to Global Head of Alternative Legal Services within the firm.
Commenting on her new role during a recent visit to Queen’s, Lisa (pictured right with Professor Sally Wheeler, Head of the University’s School of Law) said: “It is a real privilege to be taking over the reins as Director of our Belfast office. I have enjoyed the last four years immensely and have relished the hard work that has gone into building our Belfast office. I'm very excited about our future and am ready to embrace the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in our next chapter.
“Our legal team at HSF Belfast has grown from 19 on our first day, to over 200 today. This tremendous growth has been driven by the gifted people we have found in Northern Ireland. In relation to Queen's, we are very impressed with the talented and ambitious graduates the university continues to produce and we are committed to offering fantastic legal career opportunities for graduates both locally and internationally as our global alternative legal services business evolves.”
Lisa is a first class honours graduate and was one of the first students to participate in the Queen’s law tour of London during her undergraduate studies. Now a senior lawyer with HSF with over 12 years’ experience, she worked alongside Libby Jackson to launch the Belfast office. HSF was the first leading international law firm to establish a UK-based near-shore operation in Northern Ireland, announcing and then opening before any other law firm in April 2011.
To train and produce the highest quality legal brains to meet increasing local demand, Queen’s is currently building a new £15m School of Law as part of a larger investment on its main campus. The development will support world-class research and education and provide an exceptional student experience for future generations of lawyers.
Outlining the new facility at Queen’s, Professor Wheeler said: “In order to continue to serve Northern Ireland and maintain our reputation as a leading Law School attracting high quality local and international students, we need to match our world-class teaching with appropriate facilities through investing in a new home for Law.”
The School of Law will be located in the former 1960s library stack which is currently being extensively rebuilt and refurbished. When completed, it will contain flexible shared space, state-of-the-art technology and bespoke teaching facilities.
Designed to reflect the excellence of the Law School’s faculty and students, the new building will also feature postgraduate seminar rooms, a moot court, peer learning space and a social hub area on the ground floor.
For further information on the new School of Law at Queen’s please email Helen Carrick, Head of Major Gifts, or call 028 9097 3403.
To talk directly to Lisa McLaughlin contact Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, 3 Cromac Quay, Ormeau Gasworks, Belfast, BT7 2JD, telephone 028 9025 8200.
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