Speaker Bios
John Matson
CORPORATE AND M&A PARTNER AND HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL, ARTHUR COX
John is a corporate partner and is Head of International at the firm. He specialises in corporate law and has a broad corporate and commercial practice including advising upon domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions and other complex corporate transactions.
John also deals with corporate reorganisations and migrations, loan portfolio acquisitions and sales and has significant experience in corporate governance matters for both regulated and unregulated entities. He also deals extensively with overseas clients and counsel on the establishment of business operations in Ireland and in respect of ongoing legal requirements and issues. He has particular experience and expertise in transactions and advisory work in the technology, energy and financial services sectors. John has, during the course of his career, headed up both our London and New York offices, headed up one of the firm’s M&A teams and has served on, and currently participates in, the firm’s Management Committee. He is a member of the Firm’s Policy Committee.
Geoff Moore
MANAGING PARTNER ARTHUR COX
Geoff has served as our Managing Partner since 2019. Prior to his current role, he served as Co-Head of our Corporate/ M&A Group specialising in mergers and acquisitions and strategic advisory work for leading corporates.
He has transactional experience across a broad range of industries, with a particular focus in recent years on the healthcare/ pharma and financial services sectors. He has advised on many of the largest and most high profile M&A deals in Irish corporate history and is repeatedly recognised as one of the country’s leading corporate lawyers by leading independent publications, including Chambers Global/Europe, The Legal 500, IFLR and Who’s Who Legal. Previously, Geoff practised in the Corporate Finance Group of a leading New York firm.
Rt Hon Rory Stewart
OBE, ACADEMIC FORMER POLITICIAN & DIPLOMAT, THE REST IS POLICITICS
Rory Stewart is the Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University - a former UK cabinet minister and diplomat and Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was a professor at Harvard University and has written a number of bestselling books. His book “the Marches” and his BBC documentary “Borderland” focuses on the history of Cumbria. He currently teaches Grand Strategy at Yale University and Co-presents the UK’s top podcast, The Rest Is Politics, with Alastair Campbell.
Previously, Rory was the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State in Foreign Office and DFID (covering Africa, Middle East, and Asia), Minister for the Environment and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee.
After a brief period as an infantry officer he joined the UK Diplomatic Service, serving overseas in Jakarta, as British representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo crisis, and as the coalition Deputy-Governor of two provinces of Southern Iraq following the intervention of 2003. He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
In 2005, he established the Turquoise Mountain Foundation in Kabul, working to restore a section of the old city, establish a clinic, primary school, and Arts Institute, and bring Afghan crafts to international markets. In 2008, he became the Ryan Professor of Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director for the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy.
Rory has also written four books: The Places in Between, Occupational Hazards or The Prince of the Marshes, Can Intervention Work? and The Marches. With a fifth that launched in September 2023 - Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within.
Laura Canavan
DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL AND CO-DEPUTY CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER STRATEGIC VALUE PARTNERS
Laura Canavan is a Director, Associate General Counsel and Co-Deputy Chief Compliance Officer with a focus on legal transaction management and regulatory matters for the firm. Laura also serves as the SMF16 Head of Compliance for Strategic Value Partners (UK) LLP.
Prior to joining SVP, Laura was part of the legal and tax team at Macquire Infrastructure and Real Assets, part of Macquarie Funds Group, in New York City and the Company Secretarial team of Macquarie Group Limited in Sydney, Australia. Laura started her career as an Associate at a general practice law firm in Ireland.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Laws in Law from the University of Limerick and a Diploma in Corporate Governance from the Law Society of Ireland and was subsequently admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in Ireland, England, and Wales and to the New York bar.
Damien Moynagh
GENERAL COUNSEL AND GROUP COMPANY SECRETARY GRRENCORE GROUP PLC
Damien joined Greencore in November 2022 and is responsible for leading Greencore’s Legal and Company Secretariat functions.
With over 20 years’ experience as a corporate/M&A lawyer and senior executive in Europe, the US and Asia, Damien was most recently general counsel and company secretary of FTSE-listed UDG Healthcare plc, responsible for its legal, corporate secretarial, risk, compliance, quality and sustainability functions. Prior to this, Damien practiced at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Maples and Calder.
Educated at University College Dublin and Université Toulouse Capitole, he has also completed executive education programmes at Cambridge University and Columbia University.
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin
GENERAL COUNSEL CRH PLC
Pádraig Ó Ríordáin joined CRH in 2025. He has over 30 years’ experience in advising multinational and domestic corporations in the United States of America and across Europe. He was previously Chief Legal Officer at NYSE-listed Flutter Entertainment. Before that, he was a partner at Arthur Cox LLP for 20 years, including eight years as Managing Partner. He has also served as Chairman of both the Dublin Airport Authority and The National Lottery in Ireland. A Harvard Law School graduate, Pádraig is a qualified lawyer in both Ireland and New York where he practiced for several years.
Rossa Fanning
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF IRELAND
Rossa Fanning was first appointed as Attorney General of Ireland on 17 December 2022 and was re-appointed to that position on 9 April 2024 and again on 23 January 2025. Prior to his appointment, he was a Senior Counsel at the Irish Bar with a varied caseload spanning commercial law, judicial review, defamation and privacy law. He was called to the Irish Bar in 1999 and became a Senior Counsel in 2016. He is a CEDR Accredited Mediator and was admitted to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2019. He was awarded BCL and LLM degrees from University College Dublin and holds an LLM from the University of Michigan.
Ailish Finnerty
PARTNER AND CHAIR ARTHUR COX
Ailish is a partner in our Tax Group and is also Chair of the firm. She specialises in corporate tax with a particular focus on tax planning for international clients doing business in and through Ireland.
Ailish acts for a broad range of international clients including financial institutions, multi-national corporations, private equity houses and hedge funds as well as growth and emerging companies, particularly in the life sciences and technology sectors. She has advised numerous US clients on establishing operations in Ireland and has extensive experience in intangibles planning in and through Ireland. Ailish advises on the tax aspects of a wide variety of transactions, including leasing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, disposals, reorganisations and corporate restructurings, inward investment projects, securitisations and all forms of structured financing.
She also has extensive experience in tax controversy matters including mutual agreement procedures (MAP) and other dispute resolution mechanics in international taxation.
Rob Corbet
PARTNER ARTHUR COX
Rob Corbet is a partner in our Technology & Innovation Group, a market leading team dedicated to specialist data protection, IT and Intellectual Property law.
Rob’s practice is primarily focused on technological innovation. He acts for many of the world’s highest profile internet and technology companies, particularly on privacy, data protection and cyber-security matters. He is a leading authority on GDPR and has represented many clients in their dealings with the Data Protection Commission, including responding to formal domestic and cross border investigations and personally defending clients in criminal prosecutions before the courts. Rob’s Betting and Gaming practice is also market leading, reflecting over two decades of experience in Arthur Cox.
Orla O'Connor
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CAIRN HOMES PLC, FOCUS IRELAND, ASIAM AND COUNCIL MEMBER OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IRELAND
Orla is a board member of Cairn Homes plc, Ireland’s largest homebuilder, AsIAm, Ireland’s national autism charity, Focus Ireland, a leading nonprofit working with people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.
Orla is also a council member of Chartered Accountants Ireland, the representative body for over 40,000 chartered accountants in Ireland, and a member of the electoral committee of the Football Association of Ireland.
Orla was a partner in Arthur Cox for over 25 years and retired from the firm in June 2025. Her practice focused on advising banks, private equity firms and corporate clients on financing and restructuring transactions, on M&A transactions in the financial services sector and on regulatory issues such as anti-money laundering and compliance with Central Bank regulation.
She was Chair of the firm from 2019-2025. As Chair, Orla was responsible for chairing the firm’s board which deals with new partner appointments, partner remuneration and other strategic matters for the firm and for leading and chairing partner meetings.
Prior to being elected Chair, Orla served on the firm’s management committee from 2013 – 2018 and on the firm’s conflicts committee for 10 years.
She received her LL.B. from Trinity College Dublin and her B.C.L. from Oxford University.
Brian O'Gorman
INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR KEY CAPITAL GROUP, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE IRISH TAKEOVER PANEL, CHAIR OF ASAI COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE AND VICE CHAIR OF THE IRISH CHESS UNION
Brian is a former Managing Partner and Corporate M&A partner in Arthur Cox, a leading Irish law firm.
Brian is widely regarded as one of the leading corporate lawyers in Ireland. He advised on many of the largest and most high profile Irish M&A transactions over the past 25 years. In addition, he was the principal external legal adviser to many of Ireland's largest public companies for many years.
Prior to joining Arthur Cox, Brian spent a number of years in London and Hong Kong with a leading London law firm and a leading investment bank respectively.
Brian’s other current roles include: Deputy Chair of the Irish Takeover Panel, Chair of the ASAI Complaints Committee, and Vice Chair of the Irish Chess Union.
John Menton
INVESTOR AND BOARD MEMBER, OLYMPIC FEDERATION OF IRELAND
John spent 20 years as a partner in Arthur Cox, including a variety of leadership roles such as Head of the Arthur Cox Corporate Department as well as heading up its New York and Silicon Valley offices. John retired as a partner and a lawyer at age 50 and divides his time between working as a tech/life sciences investor and volunteering in a diverse range of high performance sports such as Sailing, Rugby, Hockey, Athletics, Shooting and the Olympics. He serves as a director of Rentalmatics (telematics software for rental cars), the Irish Sailing Foundation and Olympic Federation of Ireland. On the high performance sports side he represented both Irish Sailing and Hockey Ireland as well as serving as a director of the Olympic Federation of Ireland and a member of their Governance Committee.
Rachel Hussey
CLIENTS AND MARKETS PARTNER ARTHUR COX
Rachel is Clients and Markets Partner at the firm.
Rachel has more than 25 years’ experience of business development in the legal profession, specialising in client engagement and development strategies to secure sustainable relationships and competitive advantage, domestically and internationally. Her focus is on strategic lead generation; strategic client account programmes and teams; client satisfaction, experience and value initiatives; marketing and business development programmes.
Rachel is a member of the firm’s Management Committee and sits on the International, Conflicts Management, Sustainable Business and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Committees.
Outside the firm, Rachel is Pro-Chancellor of Trinity College Dublin, a member of the Review Group of Balance for Better Business and sits on the Steering Committee of the 30% Club, which she chaired from 2019-2022.
Eliza Filby
WRITER, SPEAKER AND CONSULTANT
Dr. Eliza Filby is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author, and one of the world’s leading experts on generational change.
Eliza’s breaks down the trends shaping how we live, work, and consume, delivering sharp insights, no-nonsense truths, and fresh takes on our generation, our parents, and what’s next for our kids. She has worked with global powerhouses including Google, PwC, Adidas, McDonald’s, Warner Bros., as well as The Royal Household and the UK’s Ministry of Defence.
Her weekly newsletter #MajorRelate has thousands of subscribers, she also has a monthly column in City AM, and expansive presence on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube make her a go-to voice for audiences looking to cut through the noise and stay ahead.
Her latest book, Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad, became a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller in 2024, sparking global conversations about the future of wealth, family, and opportunity.
Eliza received her PhD from the University of Warwick and subsequently taught at King’s College, London and the University of Renmin in China. Her writing has been published in The Times, The Guardian and the Financial Times.
David B. Wilkins
LESTER KISSEL PROFESSOR OF LAW, VICE DEAN FOR GLOBAL INITIATIVES ON THE LEAL PROFESSION AND FACULTY DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER ON THE LEGAL PROFESSION HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
Professor Wilkins is the Lester Kissel Professor of Law, Vice Dean for Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession, and Faculty Director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School. He is also a Senior Research Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a Fellow of the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.
Professor Wilkins has written over 80 articles on the legal profession in leading scholarly journals and the popular press and is the co-author (along with his Harvard Law School colleague Andrew Kaufman) of one of the leading casebooks in the field. His current scholarly projects include Globalization, Lawyers, and Emerging Economies (where he directs over 50 researchers studying the impact of globalization on the market for legal services in rapidly developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe); After the JD (a ten-year nationwide longitudinal study of lawyers’ careers); The Harvard Law School Career Study (examining, among other things, differences in the experiences of male and female graduates and the careers of lawyers who do not practice law); and The New Social Engineers (charting the historical development and current experiences of black lawyers in corporate law practice).
Professor Wilkins teaches several courses on lawyers including The Legal Profession, Legal Education for the Twenty-First Century, and Challenges of a General Counsel. In 2007, he co-founded Harvard Law School’s Executive Education Program, where he teaches in several courses including Leadership in Law Firms and Leadership in Corporate Counsel.
Professor Wilkins has given over 40 endowed lectures at universities around the world and is a frequent speaker at professional conferences and law firm and corporate retreats. His recent academic honors include the 2012 Honorary Doctorate in Law from Stockholm University in Sweden, the 2012 Distinguished Visiting Mentor Award from Australia National University, the 2012 Genest Fellowship from Osgoode Hall Law School, the 2010 American Bar Foundation Scholar of the Year Award, the 2009 J. Clay Smith Award from Howard University School of Law, and the 2008 Order of the Coif Distinguished Visitor Fellowship. In 2012, Professor Wilkins was elected as a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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