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Bristows is the ‘go-to’ firm for IT & Digital for clients who want responsive, thoughtful and pragmatic legal advice. We cover everything from apps to e-commerce, platform development to cloud, and blockchain to artificial intelligence. Our tech-savvy team is as comfortable handling the roll-out of a huge digital transformation project as it is advising on the compliance of a new AI product for one of the tech giants. Whatever it is, we have the lawyers who can assist.

Our focus on the technology sector makes us the lawyers of choice for many of the world’s largest technology companies. However, our clients include sophisticated buyers of technology too, and we are regularly asked to advise on business-critical projects and digital transformations as new technology disrupts traditional business models. We can advise on regulatory compliance, draft and negotiate whatever contracts are required and even help clients get ‘troubled projects’ back on track if things go wrong, as they sometimes do.

Many of the IT & Digital projects we get involved in require us to have a deep understanding of the technology involved. Whatever it is – cloud computing, Adtech, the internet of things, AI and machine learning – we have lawyers who are interested and knowledgeable in how it all works. And if we do come across a technology we haven’t had to think about before, we have enough lawyers with science and engineering backgrounds (many at doctorate level) to figure it out. As the world becomes more connected and technology even more pervasive, our understanding of how technology works gives us an edge.

While we have one of the largest teams of IT & Digital specialists around, Bristows is still of a size and managed in a way that encourages cooperation and interdisciplinary working. For our clients, this means not only is the best expertise always brought to bear on a particular matter, but we can quickly pull together diverse teams with the necessary mix of expertise from across the firm, be that tax, employment, regulatory or another discipline a particular project raises.

Much of our work is international, either because our client is overseas, or because the project itself involves the laws of many countries, such as where a client is rolling out a new global IT system or releasing a new feature to an online service. We handle these projects using a network of the best IT & Digital lawyers around. We are not constrained in who we can work with and have spent years identifying lawyers around the world who work like we do – knowledgeably, pragmatically and cost-effectively. But we also know it’s not enough to work with the best lawyers, and we also offer our clients the convenience of ‘one firm’ – one set of instructions, one conflict check and one invoice.

Key contacts

Adrian Sim

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Toby Crick

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Chris Holder

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Mark Watts

Mark Watts

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Vik Khurana

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Experience

We advise several of the world’s most important creators of AI technology.

We help them with issues at the cutting-edge of law and technology, including whether IP exists in outputs generated by large language models, how they can use datasets to train their AI models in a compliant way, the emerging regulatory regime (including the EU AI Act and the UK approach), and commercial structures that will enable their AI to benefit wider society. These creators are shaping the future of technology, and they rely on us for our ability to get to grips with how AI works and our ability to advise on how it intersects with key areas of law and regulation in a highly pragmatic and commercial way that enables their objectives. 

We advised a Premier League football club on a deal with one of the world’s largest technology companies to enable a next-generation contactless mobile ticketing solution.

We drafted and negotiated the software licensing and support to implement a solution designed to improve fan engagement and speed of entry, while enhancing physical and data security.

Our client, a global medical devices company, has entered into a partnership with a healthcare technology provider to enable a cloud-based digital health solution that has transformed the way patients, clinicians and medical device suppliers work together to deliver improved patient outcomes. 

We guided our client through the underlying technology arrangements from the app development and software licensing, through to the IP and data use issues which were at play in this global roll out.

We advised our client, a spin out entity from the UK Department of Health, on all aspects of the global launch of one of the world’s largest data sets of human genomic information. 

We provided strategic advice relating to the underlying software platform (including the inclusion of open source software), and also the licensing arrangements for third party components, content and data.  Given the nature of the platform, we assisted with the creation of the end user licence agreement taking into account not only the various technology components in the platform, but also the intellectual property issues surrounding the incorporation of user generated content.

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What others say

“Pragmatic approach to support the client needs.”

Legal 500 2025

“They don’t simply bill for the hours they’ve worked. Instead, they evaluate whether those hours were reasonable and whether we, as their client, have derived sufficient value from them. If they feel that the value delivered doesn’t align with the hours billed, they’re more than willing to adjust the fee to ensure our satisfaction.”

Legal 500 2025

“They possess an excellent understanding of our industry, and technology in particular, which sets them apart. While being a full-service law firm, they also embody the personalised attention and specialised expertise typically associated with boutique firms.”

Legal 500 2025

“Highly responsive, with deep expertise in AI and the multiple complex product areas that intersect in counselling AI products.”

Legal 500 2025

“Professional, always available, knowledgeable, and skilled.”

Legal 500 2025

“The team have both the resources and skills necessary to manage substantial litigation and arbitration, approaching such disputes with good humour, hard work, and creativity.”

Legal 500 2025

“Their IT and telecoms team is a market leader. Their market experience is exceptional across the board, everyone’s input is encouraged and valued such that clients feel involved, but looked after.”

Legal 500 2025

“They have a clear understanding of what our business wants to achieve and that underpins all their advice. They know when to involve the business stakeholders and are able to tailor their approach to that audience and suggest solutions that take key business drivers into account.”

Chambers and Partners 2024

“Bristows has a comprehensive IT practice with powerful resources for major commercial transactions and complex litigation. It advises many of the world’s leading technology companies, and also sophisticated blue-chip buyers of IT services. It is especially adept at providing counsel on the most current and cutting-edge issues in the technology space. Bristows houses experienced advisers on digital advertising and cloud computing matters.”

Chambers and Partners 2024

“Bristows is our go-to firm for any complex or high-value technology work. The team is accessible, responsive and incredibly knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with.”

Legal 500 2024

“Excellent legal skills, combined with a good sector knowledge and a hands-on approach, make Bristows a very useful resource.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“Commercial awareness is definitely one of Bristows’ strong points. Team members’ prior in-house experience shows. It is great to receive advice that is commercially balanced and easily understood by all functions of our business.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“Even in the event the requests were a bit outside of telecom regulations, the firm were able to assist with providing an exhaustive response to all enquiries. They always responded within the quoted review time and usually exceeded expectations.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“All team members have very deep experience in different fields of expertise. They understand what kind of level of response a client needs before wasting money on long reports, which is very much appreciated. On top of this, they provide updates on UK case law that are very helpful.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“Their advice is always practical, realistic and adaptable.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“Bristows have an incredible depth and breadth of experience.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“Bristows has a comprehensive IT practice with powerful resources for major commercial transactions and complex litigation. It advises many of the world’s leading technology companies, and also sophisticated blue-chip buyers of IT services. It is especially adept at providing counsel on the most current and cutting-edge issues in the technology space.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“They are technically very strong, giving us great confidence in their advice.”

Chambers and Partners 2023

“The Bristows reputation management team is small but experienced and has the advantage of being able to offer cross-expertise to other Bristows specialist departments such as data protection, copyright and IT generally. In the internet age that is very valuable.”

 

Legal 500 2023

“Exceptional practice, well motivated, and proactive.”

Legal 500 2023

“Excellent knowledge in the life sciences and technology space. The team is reliable and strong at all levels. I enjoy working with the team.”

Legal 500 2023

“Bristows LLP’s ‘excellent knowledge of the life sciences and technology space’ attracts a high-profile roster of clients including Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Facebook.”

Legal 500 2023

“They’re incredibly practical, contextually astute and do an excellent job educating and thinking about complicated legal situations in a way that allows for forward momentum.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“Bristows are a class act through and through, a quality firm providing in-depth coverage.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“We like to be able to take them into complex situations where they can be practical, and we like that they’re adaptable.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“Their sector experience is really broad and deep.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“I feel like we get a very personal service from them, they reach out to me and they always provide all the information.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“They’re very results-oriented, they staff their team appropriately, they’re on budget and they’re fully transparent,” another interviewee reports.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“We’ve been very pleased with the dedication they’ve shown, especially on last-minute matters. They’re very responsive when we ask questions.”

Chambers and Partners 2022

“All very approachable, give quick and to the point advice.”

Legal 500 2022

Recent rankings and awards

Artificial intelligence - Tier 2

IT and Telecoms - Tier 1

Commercial Contracts - Tier 2

Information Technology & Outsourcing - Band 1

Telecommunications - Band 4

Commercial Contracts - Tier 2

Information Technology and Outsourcing - Band 1

Data Protection - Band 1

Technology, Media and Telecoms - Tier 2

Commercial Contracts - Tier 3

Data Protection, Privacy and Cybersecurity - Tier 1