BUSINESS, THE LAW AND BREXIT

As one of Northern Ireland’s most experienced commercial lawyers, Monye Anyadike-Danes QC is well placed to offer a view on the challenges facing businesses here, as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. The latest round of Brexit negotiations concluded last week and the joint press conference held by David Davis, the UK Brexit Minister and Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator highlighted a lack of progress on the big issues.

Monye Anyadike-Danes says that companies here need to start reading into Brexit issues now.

“I do think that preparation is hugely important. Companies need to consider how leaving the EU might impact on their businesses, on contracts, on joint ventures, on how they sell and where they sell, and on financial management,” she says. “The best way to do that is to carry out an audit across the board of their contracts and operations”.

“At least we have a little more transparency now and the flow of information from government has started to improve. But it is crucial that Northern Ireland is represented in any negotiations on the withdrawal and for the subsequent trade agreement with the EU. The negotiations for the trade agreement are particularly important for Northern Ireland, not only because it has the only land border with an EU member state but also because of the extent of the trade with Ireland and its significance to the Northern Ireland economy.”

“Of course it will take a while for the full impact of Brexit to be felt, but it’s much better to be in a position to plan ahead, rather than run into problems when the process gets underway and have to react. It will still take time for the rest of the process to follow on. But businesses need to use the time that we have wisely”.

“What is important for companies is that they hedge against their worst fears but at the same time prepare so that they can capitalise on their best hopes….I think that businesses do look at their legal responsibilities a lot more closely these days. It may be a legacy of the toughest recession any of us has seen,” she says. “The recession meant that a lot of businesses were forced into administration and insolvency and the consequences were dire for some thanks to personal guarantees given to the banks.”

“From now on, businesses are likely to be much more aware of their legal rights but also of their legal obligations, and I think that can only be a good thing. It’s certainly an important change. Also, I think businesses here in Northern Ireland are now more outward-looking than ever before. In some ways that is ironic, just when they face Brexit and the possibility of tariff barriers to some of their most significant markets. Whilst that attitude is beneficial when we are within the EU, it is likely to be essential once we are out of it.”

Monye Anyadike-Danes is qualified as a barrister, a Queen’s Counsel and works as both an arbitrator and mediator. So she’s well placed to comment on the effectiveness of mediation as distinct from litigation in the courts.”

“There is no doubt that mediation is now increasingly seen as a highly effective alternative to litigation, and that’s something that should be welcomed.”

In any commercial dispute which goes to law, she explains, a pre-action protocol letter must be issued, offering the opportunity of a pre-action meeting between the parties and their legal representatives.

“At that stage, mediation can be at least discussed as a possible way forward. Even if proceedings have to be commenced sometimes to get the full attention of parties,” she adds. “It’s then often a case of when and how to move towards mediation.

Monye is the first female, and first Northern Irish, chair of the British Irish Commercial Bar Association (BICBA), which represents commercial barristers and solicitors right across England, Scotland, Wales and both parts of Ireland.

“BICBA is a very useful forum to bring together solicitors, barristers, and members of the judiciary involved in commercial work,” she adds. “We also look outward at ways in which the legal profession can work together to improve the service it provides to commercial clients in the UK and Ireland.”

BICBA, she says, seeks to forge links with the business community to look at ways in which business and specialist lawyers can work more effectively together. Belfast played host for the first time to BICBA’s annual conference last year when the theme was ‘Technology and the Law’. This year the conference was in Manchester and focused on Brexit. And that’s not the only way in which BICBA looks outward. It has also been instrumental in efforts to bring more international legal work home. “As an example BICBA delegations have been to Dubai on a couple of occasions and we’re due to return later this year. We were well received and are developing the relationship. We’re also planning a visit to Latin America,”says Monye Anyadike-Danes QC.

“The Bar Council of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Commercial Bar Association have also been working to attract overseas work. In August 2016 it announced that it had secured the premises for a new specialist Resolution Centre in Belfast. These are developments that I intend to promote. The other Northern Ireland BICBA members will be doing the same.”

“Belfast already has a toe-hold in the international market and we’re confident that we can grow our market share. Even a relatively small number of international cases could make a significant impact here.”