At an EGM on 20 March 2002, the Society for Computers and Law completed a radical modernisation of its structure and appointed a new Board of Trustees to further its mission of informing, educating and entertaining those involved in IT law and the application of technology to the practice of law. Members attending the EGM unanimously approved changes to SCL’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, and elected a six-person board of directors. In view of SCL’s charitable status, they will also be trustees.
The new Directors/Trustees are Glen Davis, Andrew Levison, Nigel Miller, Harry Small, Richard Stephens and John Yates. Following the meeting, the Trustee Board appointed Nigel Miller and John Yates to act as the first joint chairmen under the new regime.
John Yates said after the meeting: ‘Nigel and I are delighted to take on the responsibility of chairing the Trustee Board of SCL The Trustees will build on the strong foundations laid by Harry Small and Laurie West-Knights QC to improve the benefits of membership. Members can expect better local group meetings, more conferences and continued improvements to the magazine and Web site.’
About the Trustees
Nigel Miller
Nigel Miller qualified as a solicitor in 1983 and practised at Oppenheimers and then Denton Hall (as was) until 1989 when he became one of the founding partners of Fox Williams. He leads the firm’s IT and e-commerce group and serves on the firm’s management board as IT partner.
He specialises in business, IT, intellectual property and e-commerce matters, advising on IT procurement, licensing and outsourcing, e-commerce legal risk management, Web deals and brand protection. He has acted on some ground-breaking e-commerce projects, including issue of electronic money, provision of cryptography services, supply of online financial and business information and consumer Web shopping.
Nigel is a regular writer and speaker on IT and e-commerce law issues and is a contributing author to the Institute of Directors’ publication Managing IT Services.
Nigel was Chair of the Internet Interest Group from 1997 until earlier this year and remains on that Group’s committee. He also chaired the SCL Web Site Committee during the time when the concept for the new Web site was being developed and helped conceive and organise, and co-chaired, the successful IT law Boot Camps in 2001 and 2002.
Nigel’s focus will be on developing the value of membership of SCL and raising its profile with external bodies. He will also fulfil the trustee role in overseeing the finances of the Society.
John Yates
John is Chief Executive of v-lex limited, an incorporated law firm with a strong focus on the technology sector. He was formerly the Managing Partner of Oxley & Coward. Before that, John was a Partner with City law firm Theodore Goddard. He started his legal career with IBM as an in-house lawyer.
He was instrumental in the organisation of three successful national conferences on IT law – the Boot Camps in 2001 and 2002 and the Annual IT Law Conference in Bath. For many years, he was Legal Editor of this magazine and can claim much credit for improving the quality of our legal content.
Glen Davis
Glen Davis is a commercial barrister from 3/4 South Square, Gray’s Inn specialising in business and banking law, and insolvency. He has particular interests in the developing law of e-commerce and the Internet, as well as related areas such as telecommunications and data protection.
Glen was called to the Bar in 1992, after a first career in television which included working on award-winning documentaries and directing the BBC’s Newsnight programme. He has been involved with SCL for more than five years, formerly as a member of the Magazine Board, and more recently as Chair of the Media Board, overseeing the production of this magazine and the introduction of the Society’s new Web site.
