Craicly Stories
Our overall aim with this festival is to put Culture First by harnessing the power of your voices. Through written stories and live performances, this event will spotlight personal narratives and experiences, fostering open conversations about mental health and promoting a healthy legal workplace culture.
Leave your mark at Well Within the Law Festival by joining us for a compelling storytelling event. We want your stories about a memorable, true experience within your legal career where the support, generosity or involvement of a colleague helped you through a challenging time in your life.By sharing your story, you will help break down barriers, encourage more compassionate conversations, and inspire positive change within the legal profession. There will also be six guest speakers on the night sharing their stories.
- Share your story (identified as yours or anonymously) in approximately 150 words.
This element of the festival is created in partnership with Irish storytelling company Craicly.
Meet the speakers
Ms. Justice Marie Baker is a recently retired judge of the Supreme Court, to which she was appointed in 2019. She is the Chair of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, nominated to that position by the Chief Justice. Called to the Bar in 1984 and the Inner Bar in 2004, Ms Justice Baker practiced in the Cork and Munster circuits and is an accredited mediator. She has previously served as a part-time Commissioner of the Law Reform Commission and a member of the advisory study group on pre-nuptial agreements. In 2014, Ms. Justice Baker was appointed a judge of the High Court and served as a Judge in the Court of Appeal from June 2018.
Lisa McKenna is founder of McKenna & Co Solicitors. Lisa is the recent recipient of the Diversity and Inclusion Businesswoman of the Year Community Advocate Award at the 2024 IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards. Lisa is also a member at Dublin Chamber Council.
Matthew is a trainee solicitor in RDJ LLP, and graduated from the University of Galway having been awarded a BCL with Business in 2023. Matthew is proof that it is never too late to follow your dreams having commenced his undergraduate law degree at the age of 30 after almost 10 years in professional kitchens, going on to be twice nominated for Law Student of the Year at the Irish Law Awards, and was instrumental in the resuscitation of the Galway Law Review which is now entering its 4th Volume. Matthew is currently on track to be the first solicitor in his family and is expecting to qualify Christmas 2025.
Sana is a newly qualified solicitor in the Disputes and Investigations Group at A&L Goodbody. Though from London and (painfully) proudly of Iranian heritage, she found home in Dublin when she moved here for college in 2016. Unsurprisingly, then, Sana is passionate about cultural and social diversity in the workplace. In order to help achieve the latter, she set up the FE-1-Stop Shop initiative through which Ireland’s hopeful lawyers make voluntary donations to charities of their choice in return for a treasure trove of FE-1 notes (as well moral support!). The spirit of the initiative is one of collaboration – an essential ingredient for success and indeed happiness in the legal industry.
Mark Scully is founder of Braver Coaching & Consulting, an executive coaching and neurodiversity consultancy based in Dublin. Mark originally qualified as a Barrister before becoming a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor, spending 12 years in professional services, during which time he realised his passion for coaching. Following his own autism diagnosis in 2021, Mark immersed himself in the discourse and research on neurodiversity. Through Braver's coaching and neurodiversity services, Mark wants to help Irish organisations become more inclusive for the benefit of all their employees.
Jane Gormley is the founder of social story-telling group, CRAICLY. Jane's professional background is in talent development and coaching. CRAICLY began life as a social meet-up amongst friends, and the huge response since their first "official" story telling session has led to multiple, nationwide gatherings encouraging the power of storytelling for fun, mental wellbeing and connecting people with the places that surround them.
