Northern Ireland’s first-ever chair of the British Irish Commercial Bar Association (BICBA) has said more international legal work could be attracted to Northern Ireland.

Monye Anyadike-Danes QC is also the first woman to chair BICBA, which represents commercial barristers and solicitors across England, Scotland, Wales and both parts of Ireland.

Ms Anyadike-Danes said: “BICBA is a very useful forum to bring together solicitors, barristers, and members of the judiciary involved in commercial work. We also look outward at ways in which the legal profession can work together to improve the service it provides to commercial clients in the UK and Ireland.”

She said BICBA will soon be sending another delegation to Dubai, where a relationship is “developing” following two recent visits, and is “also planning a visit to Latin America”.

Ms Anyadike-Danes added: “The Bar Council of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Commercial Bar Association have also been working to attract overseas work. In August 2016 it announced that it had secured the premises for a new specialist Resolution Centre in Belfast. These are developments that I intend to promote. The other Northern Ireland BICBA members will be doing the same.

“Belfast already has a toe-hold in the international market and we’re confident that we can grow our market share. Even a relatively small number of international cases could make a significant impact here.”