Browne Jacobson partner Jeanne Kelly elected President of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce

Jeanne Kelly, one of the founding partners of Browne Jacobson’s Dublin offering was yesterday (Tuesday 26 September) announced as the new elected President of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce (BICC).

Jeanne, who was previously the 2022 – 2023 Vice-President for the Chamber and is also the outgoing Chair of the Chamber’s ICT Committee will lead the organisation in its focus to keep trade at the forefront of its agenda alongside newly elected Vice President Marie Doyle, partner at Deloitte Northern Ireland.

The BICC was founded in 2011 ahead of the historic visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland and the subsequent State visit of President Michael D. Higgins to Britain. The aim of the Chamber is to champion the €100 billion annual trade between the UK and Ireland which directly sustains over 600,000 jobs. Members of the bilateral Chamber includes Barclays, Deloitte, KPMG, The Open University, Trinity College Dublin and Zurich amongst others.

Jeanne, who is a respected, specialist commercial lawyer at the UK&I firm which has international reach and strives for a positive impact across business and society, has over 25 years’ experience in leading a commercial tech law practice. She has advised private and public sector clients on technology, intellectual property and data privacy law and has also led data protection compliance programmes for some of Ireland’s leading corporates, as well as for multinationals with Irish operations. Jeanne also has extensive experience in large outsourcing projects, supply arrangements and intellectual asset management.

Jeanne commented on her appointment at today’s AGM: “I am truly honoured to be elected President of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce, at a time of great change and progress in British – Irish trade and relations. In a post-Brexit and Windsor Framework era, this is now moment to grasp the vast opportunities presented for collaboration and trade across these Islands. It is a volume of trade now exceeding €100bn per annum primed with further opportunities in areas such as Technology, Energy, Sustainability, Research and Financial Services.

“I want to build on my predecessor Maree Gallagher’s legacy to ensure the Chamber puts the nuts and bolts of trade at the forefront of its agenda, that means more regional engagements, greater networking opportunities and a laser sharp focus on addressing any potential trade barriers North – South, East -West across these islands. The return of the Chamber’s Annual Conference on October 12th will illuminate the potential of this critical trading relationship”.

Browne Jacobson Ireland which is also led by its three other founding partners, Ciarán Markey, Declan Cushley who leads the firm’s corporate sector strategy and Anthony Nagle has gone from strength to strength since its launch as the firm’s first overseas office in 2022. 

Recently the firm announced the move of its Dublin office to newly modernised premises at 2 Hume Street, located in the heart of the City’s central business district. This move follows on from a successful first year for the Dublin team which saw it receive instructions from a host of new clients from across IP, tech, digital disruption and data privacy, and make some key legal appointments to support the bridge between the firm’s UK&I based commercial teams. The new office will allow the Dublin team to triple its headcount and support its wider strategic growth ambitions which includes, expanding its integrated end to end tech practice for its domestic and international clients and further develop its corporate service lines in response to client demand.