60 Seconds with Maria McNally of Cleaver Fulton Rankin

Tell us about your role and your organisation.
I am an Associate Director in the Dispute Resolution Team at Cleaver Fulton Rankin, specialising in Insolvency and Debt Recovery.  Cleaver Fulton Rankin is a full-service commercial law firm with over 130 years of heritage. We provide legal advice and services to both businesses and individual private clients, offering advice in areas such as employment and immigration, dispute resolution, private client matters, company & commercial, commercial property, planning and environment, banking and finance, procurement, legal technology and construction.

In my role, I provide specialist legal advice to national insolvency practitioners, banks and leading financial institutions across a wide range of contentious and non-contentious insolvency related matters including formal insolvency procedure and loan enforcement.

I also sit on the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion committee and am passionate about supporting young women embarking on legal careers. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to contribute to our firm’s diversity & inclusion strategy, policies and initiatives and have played a role in our achievement of the Bronze Diversity Charter Mark.

Give us a brief overview of your career journey so far.
I qualified as a solicitor in 2011 with a commercial law firm in Belfast.  Upon qualification, I joined Housing Rights where I had a fantastic opportunity to work in collaboration with the Department of Justice and the Legal Services Commission to implement a pilot project called the Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme.  My role included attending all County Court and High Court repossession hearings to provide free legal advice and make submissions to the court on behalf of homeowners and tenants at risk of losing their home.  The effects of the recession in 2007 resulted in significant financial hardship for many people, so this free service was invaluable.  During my time at Housing Rights, the scheme helped over 2,500 people.  This service remains available today and is something that I am proud to have been a part of from its inception.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Housing Rights, I decided that I wanted to move back to private practice.  In 2015, I joined Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s Dispute Resolution Team where I have strengthened my skills through acting on many challenging and specialist cases.  With support from the firm, I qualified as a Mediator in 2019 and was awarded a Certificate in Civil and Commercial Mediation. 

I recognise the importance of mentoring solicitors who are entering the profession.  I teach trainee Solicitors in Business and Insolvency Law at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast.

Describe yourself in 3 words.
Tenacious, proactive and approachable.

What is one skill that helps you most in your role?
Communication.  Being able to communicate in a clear and effective manner with clients, colleagues and judges is extremely important in my role.  I specialise in contentious areas of law, therefore the majority of the cases I advise on proceed to court if they cannot be resolved.  Bringing a matter before the court requires a commitment not only financially but also personally so it is critical that clients are informed before proceeding.

What advice do you have for Women in Law?
My advice would be to trust your gut and stay true to yourself. If something does not feel right, then take a step back and think about it before committing yourself. Other opportunities will present themselves, so it is ok to pass on an offer. When something feels right, it is more likely to succeed. When making an important decision, I trust my intuition and so far, it has worked for me.

Are there any exciting plans in the year ahead in your organisation that you can share with us?
Working alongside my colleagues, I was instrumental in drafting and implementing the launch of Cleaver Fulton Rankin’s ESG Hub last year.  We are the only independent law firm in NI to have a dedicated Hub that provides thought leadership and guidance on environmental, social and governance issues.  The ESG Hub is designed to help businesses meet Environmental, Social and Governance targets through providing tailored, expert legal advice and services.  This year, Cleaver Fulton Rankin also celebrates 130 years in business, making us one of the oldest law firms in Northern Ireland. We have exciting celebrations coming up later in the year, so keep an eye out for that.

Who has been your biggest career inspiration and why?
I am lucky to have met many inspirational people professionally and personally from whom I have learned a lot, but my biggest inspiration is my mum. She taught me how to be resilient. This has given me tools and skills to manage challenges faced and view them as learning opportunities.

If you had to pick your soundtrack song to get you through the working day, what would it be?
I have a varied taste in music so I do not have a particular soundtrack song however I am a fan of 80s power ballads.

What's your favourite break-time snack?
A Chocolate chip muffin. I try not to eat them regularly, but they are very hard to resist!

How can you fellow WIB members keep up to date with you and your organisation?
On the Cleaver Fulton Rankin website or LinkedIn page and with myself - @Maria McNally on LinkedIn.