Emily Monastiriotis hasn’t stopped. In 2021, she took over as Simmons & Simmons’ UK head of dispute resolution. Just over a year later, the former chief of insurance and construction was promoted to international head of dispute resolution.
In that time, she launched the Business Development Skills Academy, which allows dispute resolution trainees and associates to vote for training they receive. The initiative has since been rolled out across the entire firm.
Monastiriotis also spearheaded the reorganisation of the firm’s dispute resolution offering to improve integration and increasing learning opportunities for junior lawyers. The major reshuffle combined the litigation and arbitration team with its contentious regulatory, crime and competition department into a single group: disputes and investigations.
As part of Simmons & Simmons’ international executive committee, Monastiriotis is now devising the firm’s global strategy for the next three years. For the disputes department this includes institutionalising and internationalising client relationships, plus capitalising on the active class action market.
This year, Monastiriotis will continue her tour of Simmons & Simmons’ international offices to meet and build relationships with litigators. Her challenge will be maintaining her active client work, which includes several fire safety disputes over cladding.