Anneke Pol joined Bristows as an associate in November 2021 and is part of the commercial IP/IT team.

She has worked directly with clients’ business and technical teams to ensure commercial priorities are reflected in robust, large contract documentation and that complex IT projects are carefully documented against client requirements.

Anneke’s experience ranges across procurement, software licensing, outsourcing projects, intellectual property commercialisation, and IT project contracting. Her practice extends across a range of different industries including life sciences, technology, telecommunication, data security and management, retail, transport and logistics.

Anneke has worked directly with clients’ legal and commercial teams to structure and negotiate strategically significant deals.

Chris Holder is an experienced commercial IT lawyer who was one of the first specialist IT outsourcing lawyers in the UK and one of the first to recognise the significance of AI and robotics for the future development of technology and the law.

Chris has worked in the IT sector since qualification in 1991. He was one of the first wave of specialist IT outsourcing lawyers in the UK, having worked for both IBM UK and Shaw Pittman in this role from the mid-1990s/early 2000s.

He has advised suppliers and customers alike in relation to large scale, national and international IT infrastructure and business process outsourcing transactions. This has included many examples of data centre, application development and maintenance, telecoms networks and desktop service deals, either together or as separate ‘tower’ transactions.

Emily Atkinson has experience advising employers on the employment aspects of corporate M&A deals, as well as providing stand-alone employment advice and supporting clients on all aspects of employment litigation.

She also has experience drafting employment documents and agreements, such as employment contracts, executive service agreements, company policies and handbooks, settlement agreements and consultancy agreements.

Emily’s work frequently has an international element. She has co-ordinated international projects, including one which involved obtaining advice on COVID-19 regulations in over 50 jurisdictions. In addition to this, Emily is often involved in corporate deals within the technology and life sciences sectors, including advising on the employment aspects of WPP’s purchase of Satalia, the global leader in enterprise AI.

Emma Macalister-Hall Emma is a senior associate in the data protection team. She advises UK and multinational clients on a range of data protection and privacy issues, including individual privacy rights, conducting Data Protection Impact Assessments, data transfers (including Binding Corporate Rules), e-Privacy, data processing agreements and direct marketing.

Emma has experience advising on contentious data protection matters, such as regulatory investigations and data protection litigation.

In 2018-2019, Emma spent time on secondment in the legal department of a US social media company, gaining extensive experience of the data protection and privacy issues facing businesses operating in the TMT sector. In 2018 she also spent time at the legal team of a leading energy company based in Singapore where she assisted with the implementation of the client’s global privacy programme.

Faye Harrison is a Senior Associate in Bristows’ data protection team. Her practice includes privacy compliance strategies, individual rights requests, direct marketing and data transfer mechanisms. She also has a background in commercial IT transactions and has spent time on a number of client secondments.

Faye advises clients all over the world on their data privacy strategies, including developing and maintaining privacy compliance programs, product development and defending enforcement actions.

Faye’s practice covers a broad spectrum of data protection and privacy issues, with a particular focus on those arising in the life sciences and tech sectors, and strong emphasis on medical devices, digital health, and on the tech sector as a whole. A significant share of recent issues in these sectors involves advising on individual rights requests, direct marketing and navigating the privacy challenges associated with developing new technologies, and their intersection with regulatory/medical law requirements. She has also assisted some of the world’s largest companies in the implementation of both controller and processor Binding Corporate Rules.

Jamie Cox is an associate in the commercial IT and technology team at Bristows, having joined the firm in 2018 and qualified in 2020. He assists clients on various day-to-day IT and data protection matters, including software licensing, support and maintenance, SaaS deals, data processing agreements and international data transfers. He also advises on e-commerce and consumer protection law.

Jamie has worked on several outsourcing agreements relating both to business processes and IT services and support. He also advises clients through a number of ongoing retainers, building long-term relationships with clients and working closely with the business to provide commercially focused and cost effective advice.

Additionally, Jamie has advised a national media company on its consumer membership terms and conditions, drafted a software development agreement for a games developer to engage third party developers, and created a bespoke product design, supply, warehousing and logistics agreement for a global digital publisher.

Mac Macmillan is Of Counsel at Bristows. She worked as a software developer before becoming a solicitor. Mac now concentrates on all aspects of IT law with a particular focus on data protection and the provision of IT related services.

In addition to UK-focused data protection advice on day-to-day compliance issues such as customer-facing privacy policies, managing data breaches and cross-border data transfers, she has extensive experience managing multi-jurisdictional compliance projects and negotiating large services contracts.

Marc Dautlich is a technology specialist with over 25 years’ experience gained in private practice, as well as in-house at Equifax and on secondments at Microsoft.

Marc helps clients to evaluate and manage data protection and cyber risk in cross-border compliance programs, in technology projects involving the development of machine learning/artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud applications, in life sciences and medical device projects covering healthcare apps, remote diagnostics, clinical trials and investigations and genomic research, and in the financial services sector across the lifecycle of product development and FinTech applications.

Marc also advises on cyber security incidents, and regulatory investigations and disputes involving data protection, misuse of private information and breaches of confidentiality, and has experience of devising voluntary redress schemes for individuals affected by such misuse or breaches.

Mark Watts heads Bristows’ data protection practice and is also leader of the firm’s technology sector group.

He has a doctorate in semiconductor physics from the University of Oxford and specialises in how data protection works in a technology context, particularly new technologies, such as cloud computing, AI, facial recognition and Adtech. For several years, Mark was in-house at IBM where he held various roles, including that of Global Data Privacy Counsel.

Mark’s practice comprises helping clients to establish proportionate and pragmatic compliance programs globally, product counselling for several of the largest technology companies and representing companies in connection with regulatory enforcement. Mark has defended companies in several of the largest, most high profile regulatory enforcement actions in the world, both in respect of data breaches and also data misuse cases.

Michael Edgar specialises in commercial transactions related to information technology and data privacy.

Michael has advised on a range of technology agreements including software licensing, build, support and maintenance, hosting, cloud services, application development, collaborative development and IT outsourcing. His work has included negotiating contracts in relation to high-end medical technology for the NHS, military and aviation sectors, and for an online logistics platform for the global distribution of interactive entertainment content.

Michael has supported businesses on a range of privacy aspects, including international data transfers, processing contracts, data sharing agreements, preparing for and handling data security breaches and data governance.

Michael also advises e-commerce and social media businesses on advertising, consumer protection and ePrivacy rules.

Stephen Almond is Executive Director for Regulatory Risk, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Prior to joining the ICO, Stephen led a World Economic Forum initiative to promote the adoption of a more agile, innovation-enabling approach to regulation with governments and tech firms worldwide. He previously worked in leadership roles across the UK Government, including creation of the White Paper on Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and roll-out of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund, which invested in regulatory sandboxes and similar initiatives to unlock technological innovation.

Toby Headdon is an intellectual property and data litigator and advisor.

He has handled a wide range of intellectual property disputes at all levels, including before the EU Court of Justice and the UK Supreme Court. In addition to disputes, Toby also works with clients on infringement risk analysis and mitigation, dispute and litigation avoidance, and supports them in responding to government consultations on developments in the law.

Examples of his recent work have involved online licensing, data mining and re-utilisation, natural language processing and artificial intelligence, Internet indexing, television formats, luxury brands, FMCG, computer source code, functionality, logic and data file formats, and online publishing and exhaustion of rights.

Toby also works closely with the data team, handling disputes concerning breaches of data protection legislation, misuse of private information and regulatory investigations of data incidents.

He has spent time working in-house with a multinational retailer and as the acting global head of litigation for a major television network..

Vik Khurana is a commercial technology lawyer, advising clients in a diverse range of sectors.

Vik specialises in all aspects of commercial technology law and regularly leads complex and strategic technology projects. In particular, Vik advises on outsourcing, software development and licensing, digital transformation, cloud computing, e-commerce, and other arrangements involving the use or exploitation of IP and technology.

In addition, Vik has a growing practice in emerging disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, advising both high-growth and established businesses as they develop, deploy and scale new products and services in the market.

Vik acts for clients in a diverse range of sectors, including technology, media, government, healthcare and financial services. Having spent significant time seconded to clients – including a global energy company and the Singapore arm of a major telecoms provider – Vik has a keen understanding of the needs of clients' legal and business teams.