International Information Technology Brochure

In-depth knowledge of the IT industry built up consistently over the last two decades is the key that enables us to deliver proactive legal advice to clients operating in, or dealing with, the IT sector.

From intellectual property infringement cases, through to multi-million dollar international joint ventures in Europe, the US and the Middle East, or cross-border outsourcing projects in the UK and Asia, companies encounter a challenging range of IT contractual issues. These sometimes call for experienced negotiation and dispute resolution skills as well as related commercial issues arising under regulatory, data protection, competition and employment laws.

We have focused on providing a comprehensive range of legal services to the IT sector for many years. We provide a full service in connection with all IT and IT related projects, including full or part-time secondment. Our clients are organisations in the public and private sectors, including a cross section of blue-chip companies as well as developers, distributors and suppliers of IT systems and services.

We work side-by-side with our clients to resolve and manage each of these matters in order to maximise project success ratios and minimise risks and liabilities. We are aware that time to market is key and that value for money is the ultimate test: these requirements apply equally to legal services and the experience of the solicitors in our IT Group ensure that they are met.

Our key services in this sector include advising, negotiating and drafting contracts in connection with:

• the procurement and delivery of IT systems and services
• outsourcing projects and managed services     
• software development and distribution, including VAR and OEM arrangements
• dispute resolution     
• joint ventures and other strategic alliances, with full corporate documentation where appropriate (merger and acquisition, business purchase and sale agreements, shareholder arrangements, governance terms)     
• e-commerce and Internet-based businesses, including website development, hosting, and content management     
• data protection, privacy principles and security
• project finance and other funding arrangements     
• intellectual property management, enforcement and commercialisation     
• directors' and key staff packages, as well as general employment and consultancy agreements, advice concerning staff transfer and protection of employment regulations     
• regulatory compliance, such as may affect utilities, former state monopolies, the banking and finance sectors and other regulated industries     
• competition and anti-trust issues     
• public procurement law, practice and procedure, best practice     
• contract management, best practice     
• secondment services, either full or part-time