PILA welcomes Emily Cunningham as new Legal Officer

PILA is delighted to welcome Emily Cunningham on board as its new Legal Officer. She will be working closely with new and existing NGOs, community groups and independent law centres to identify areas of unmet legal need, as well as collaborating with the legal profession to support the provision of pro bono legal assistance. Her role will involve operating the Pro Bono Referral Scheme and raising awareness on public interest law issues.

Emily is a solicitor qualified to practice in both Ireland and England & Wales. She spent six years in commercial law firm, McCann FitzGerald where she completed her training and then went on to practice in the area of litigation and dispute resolution, specialising in media law and white collar crime. Prior to that she spent two years as a Research Assistant in Trinity College, Dublin researching global political violence and protest. Emily has a B.A. History & Political Science from Trinity College and an LL.M Law Governance from Queen’s University Belfast. During her traineeship and studies, Emily was a member of the editorial committee of the Hibernian Law Journal and acted as founder and editor-in-chief of the Queen’s Political Review. She also spent four years as a volunteer with FLAC in the McCann FitzGerald free legal advice clinic providing free legal advice to citizens who encountered difficulty accessing legal services.