In the IHL seat
Next in line for the IHL seat is NES Fircroft’s Clare McNulty. Clare is the Legal and Commercial Manager for the UK, EU and Africa. NES is the world’s leading engineering recruitment provider spanning many sectors across Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables to IT and Manufacturing. We eased Clare in by asking her to provide an overview of her work at NES and what her role entails.
Clare: As a recruitment business operating across global energy and engineering markets, no two days are the same. We work in highly regulated sectors that are constantly evolving, so a large part of our role is staying ahead of legal developments, monitoring compliance obligations and ensuring our governance framework remains fit for purpose. I'm based in Manchester and lead a team of three, including two solicitors and a compliance officer. Our “bread and butter” is commercial contract negotiations, risk management and providing legal oversight across all our sectors and regions and our compliance officer plays a vital role in researching legal reforms, market developments and business initiatives.
Clare took a non-traditional route to law. Following a politics degree, Clare fell into recruitment after attending a graduate assessment day. During her time as recruiter, she joined the firm’s netball team and a casual chat with in-house counsel after a game led to a move into a paralegal role.
Clare: I instantly felt more fulfilled and as though I had found a purpose. I was fortunate enough to be offered support through the CILEX route whilst working full time. Once qualified, I joined NES Fircroft, where I've now been for three years, and it's been a fantastic opportunity to continue developing both professionally and commercially.
We went on to ask Clare our favourite unanswerable question, that we ask anyway. What does a typical day ‘in the life’ of an NES in-house lawyer look like?
Clare: We are the only support function that sits with the sales team so being a facilitator and supporter of achieving the business goals is our primary objective. We are heavily involved in supporting both new and existing client relationships by way of commercial negotiations and leading projects to develop new capabilities. Our role is to enable the business to move forward while balancing urgency and commerciality with risk governance. We recently merged with Halian, another recruitment business focused on IT and data industries and so a significant amount of our work is currently focused on integration, alignment and opportunities for the combined business to grow and innovate.
As an ever-present hot topic, we asked Clare what impact AI is having on her role, and whether she can see this evolving further in the future.
Clare: Before I joined, the legal team had invested in an AI contract management tool, so we are certainly embracing the change. It has enabled us to streamline routine processes and spend more time focusing on strategic and commercial matters. AI is also playing a key part in our business ventures and our ability to react to reform. I expect its influence across both legal and operational functions will continue to increase in the years ahead.
Aside from the obvious grip on technological advances, we asked Clare what the biggest challenges in-house lawyers are facing and whether those are industry specific.
Clare: Like many organisations, we're operating against a backdrop of wider economic and geopolitical uncertainty, but from a legal perspective one of the biggest challenges is keeping pace with the volume of regulatory change affecting the recruitment industry. Over the past 12 months alone we've seen significant developments, including EU pay transparency reforms and the UK's Employment Rights Act 2025, both of which have major implications for recruitment businesses and the contingent workforce market. There has also been increased scrutiny around labour supply chains and umbrella company arrangements, bringing new liabilities for agencies, end clients and suppliers alike. While reforms that strengthen worker protections and improve accountability are undoubtedly positive, implementing those changes in a way that still enables businesses to access flexible, specialist talent can be challenging.
With a unique journey into law, we asked Clare for an achievement that stood out during her career.
Clare: Joining NES as a newly qualified lawyer was both exciting and challenging. I stepped into a broad international role with a relatively small team and quickly realised there was a significant opportunity to build and shape the legal function alongside our Legal Director, Liz. My first year was spent implementing processes, strengthening governance frameworks and developing a deeper understanding of how the business operated across different regions. Around a year later when we started to see the benefits of building a stronger legal infrastructure, we introduced valuable new resources and created the capacity to move beyond simply managing day-to-day matters. We were able to take a more proactive role in supporting strategic projects and driving commercial value, which felt like a genuine turning point for the team.
Whilst it sounds like Clare genuinely enjoys her role, we asked what she would be doing if she hadn’t pursued a career in law. Clare shared that she really enjoyed hockey at school and played at a high level until university and:
Clare: I am nothing but aspirational, so I would have played hockey for England!
Finally, in answer to our usual and trusty last question, to sum up the team, Clare shared that if the NES inhouse legal team had a “ring walk” song:
Clare: As a team of women, giving female boss energy, it would have to be “Who Run the World (Girls)” by Beyonce.
We think that sounds extremely well placed, and with that, we thank Clare for her time. We thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Clare and the work at NES Fircroft, and wish the team continued success.
Clare McNulty
Legal and Commercial Manager
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Next in line for the IHL seat is NES Fircroft’s Clare McNulty. Clare is the Legal and Commercial Manager for the UK, EU and Africa. NES is the world’s leading engineering recruitment provider spanning many sectors across Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables to IT and Manufacturing.
IHL conference, 22 September 2026
We are busy planning our next inhouse lawyer conference which will take place on 22 September at the Innside Hotel on First Street, Manchester. This is the 15th year we have hosted our ever-popular event for the North-West inhouse lawyer community.
Our Pannone x IHL is designed to bring you the latest news and legal developments relevant to in-house lawyers. If there are any areas you would like more information on or if you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to let us know via our feedback form or get in touch with any member of our team.
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