Brexit: The In-House Counsel as Change Catalyst

Miriam Caley, Head of Legal - Ireland, Optum , Ireland

As 2019 begins we are no clearer to knowing what Brexit will look like on 29 March 2019. With less than three months until the anticipated Brexit date, organizations of all types in Ireland and elsewhere – commercial, community, and governmental bodies – are now actively implementing their Brexit readiness plans. With Brexit scenarios being discussed spanning no-Brexit to hard Brexit scenarios, from WTO-based trade terms to ’Norway plus” or ’Canada plus it is worthwhile noting that Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK’s former permanent representative to the EU recently commented: ’I am in no position to second guess those who have to try and model the macro effects of such a scenario. No developed country has left a trade bloc before, let alone in disorderly fashion, and let alone one which has become a lot more than a trade bloc. ”

Miriam Caley is Associate General Counsel and Head of Legal – Ireland at Optum. Before joining Optum in 2016, she was in private practice in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s London, Cologne and Dubai offices between 2005 and 2013 and in Matheson’s corporate department in Dublin from 2013 to 2016. Miriam received an LL.M. in Public International Law from University College London and worked for the German Foreign Office for three years where she obtained her first degree in Foreign Affairs before continuing her studies in law in England. Miriam is fluent in German, French, Spanish and English. Miriam is also dual qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Ireland. Prior to this, Miriam practised law in London and Dubai with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and in Dublin with Matheson.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UHG) is a health and well-being company headquartered in the United States and a leader worldwide in helping people live healthier lives and helping make the health system work better for everyone. UHG is 5 on the US Fortune 500 with 285,000 employees globally serving clients and consumers through two distinct platforms: 1) UnitedHealthCare which provides health care coverage and benefits services; and 2) Optum which provides information and technology-enabled health services. Optum has c.1400 employees in Ireland, across two locations, Dublin and Letterkenny. In existence since 1999, the Letterkenny site has historically performed a variety of high value claims adjudication processes and related activities. The Dublin site was set up in 2016 and serves as a ’tech hub’ which serves multiple businesses across UHG.