This week in our MHC Life Series, we hear from Emmy Marshall, an Associate in our Construction, Infrastructure & Utilities team. Emmy chats about her career journey, her favourite thing about her role and a typical day for her.
Tell us a bit about you and your career journey to MHC- what inspired you to get into this career?
My path to law was likely kickstarted by some hot legal tv drama that transferred into a few weeks of Transition Year work experience in a busy country general practice. There was a lot more banker box carrying and injury dodging from pulling paperclips out of the back of photocopiers than I’d seen on tv but when I witnessed the hustle and bustle of Monaghan District Court, I was sold! I then studied for my BCL at Dublin City University. While studying for my FE1 exams I worked in a small but busy general practice as a legal executive where I can safely say we seen just about everything and anything come through the door so it was a great chance to decide what I had an interest in. I gained a particular interest in commercial litigation and then completed my training contract in a specialist construction/insurance firm in Dublin where I worked for over a year post qualification. I have recently joined the contentious Construction team here in MHC.
What was your first job?
My first job was collecting glasses in the local nightclub before making the promotion to the cocktail bar. I’ve still never fully eradicated some of the 3am scenes from my mind!
What sports/hobbies/pastimes do you enjoy?
I’ve fallen into the trap of signing up for spontaneous marathons which I equally love and despise and I’m currently training for Amsterdam in October. My dream would be to complete the World Marathon Majors series which is six marathons across North America, Europe and Tokyo but there are many days of tired legs and complaining to come before that.
Talk us through a typical day for you.
I’m an early bird and at my most productive in the mornings. Depending on whether I’m working from home or the office I try to start my day with some sort of exercise whether it’s a workout, coffee walk or cycling into the office before sitting down to the desk and diving into emails.
My role varies from day to day which makes the job particularly interesting. Usually, we are working towards a handful of deadlines whether it’s an adjudication, arbitration or court deadline so there can be many different workstreams to manage which keeps us on our toes. One of the most exciting parts of the job is working with the largest contractors and construction companies in Ireland and following their involvement in some of the biggest and most technical construction and infrastructure projects in the country and further afield.
In the evenings at the moment, you’ll find me running the pavements of North Dublin questioning my sanity, buried in a Netflix series or if I’m at home in the countryside, I’ll be out for a walk with at least one of my four dogs.
If I wasn’t a Solicitor, I would be..
An English and History teacher…. mostly for the holidays!
What’s your idea of a perfect holiday/favourite place you’ve ever visited?
I try to aim for the perfect mix of relaxing and exploring so ideally a warm European spot with both a pool and a quirky town nearby to potter about in and sample the local culture, foods and wines. I’m looking forward to visiting Croatia in a few weeks and taking in the islands and visiting the Old Town in Dubrovnik. My travel bucket list seems to get longer by the day, but Central America is definitely at the top.
