Mairead Powell

Mairead is a senior solicitor with experience in general commercial law gained in private practice and working as an in-house counsel. She qualified in 2011.

Having worked in both private practice and in-house legal teams, you get a different perspective on a client’s requirements and the type of advice they need from their lawyer. For a non-lawyer, contracts can feel like you’re reading a foreign language! They don’t have to be, and I see my role as providing accessible legal advice which is tailored to my client’s needs.

Mairead qualified into the Outsourcing, Technology and Commercial team of Wright Hassall in 2011, a large regional firm based in the Midlands. As an Associate at the firm, she worked with a variety of clients across multiple sectors providing advice in relation to their commercial agreements ranging from terms and conditions and licensing contracts for SME start-ups to large scale outsourcing contracts for global IT companies.

During her time at Wright Hassall, Mairead was seconded into the in-house legal department of a leading healthcare provider and in 2018 she left private practice to expand on her in-house counsel experience. Before joining Harper James at the end of 2022, Mairead worked as a Commercial Solicitor for Warwickshire County Council and then Cellnex UK Limited, a global telecommunications company.

I understand the pressures that organisations face when it comes to navigating the complexities of a commercial contract. No two contracts are the same and different issues will come to prominence depending on the client and the industry in which they are operating. I have had the privilege of working with some very interesting clients and really enjoy the variety of work that falls under the umbrella ‘Commercial’ law.

Outside of work, Mairead enjoys playing netball and tennis, spending time with friends and family and going on mini-breaks, the most recent being Lisbon (from which she is still recovering…!)