AI Group

Minesh is a Partner at Simmons & Simmons in London. As well as acting for clients on a range of contentious issues, Minesh has particular experience in advising on technology, media and telecommunication disputes. He also specialises in artificial intelligence and is Simmons & Simmons’ global AI Lead. Minesh is a member of the European AI Alliance and a past member of the CBI’s AI Working Group. He is regularly invited to speak about AI-related legal and ethical risks, including at a United Nations conference and at CogX, and is due to be published as a contributing author in two forthcoming AI books. Minesh is an SCL Trustee.

Ricky is a Senior Associate in the IP & Tech team at RPC, which regularly acts for several of the largest technology platforms, in addition to a range of other enterprises and organisations. Ricky has particular experience in acting for and advising clients in respect of software development disputes.
Ricky has recently completed an MSc in Computer Science, during which he undertook research in the fields of computer vision and machine learning.

Managing Legal Counsel, Technology & Innovations, Santander UK – passionate about digital transformation, new technologies such as AI and the related law and building high performing legal teams in this space. Chair of Santander’s Legal and Regulatory Digital Practice Group, UK representative of Santander’s global legal simplification programme, Fellow of Society for Computers & Law, member of the UK Finance AI Round Table on Regulating AI and member (past Chair) of Santander UK’s Pro Bono Group and Social Mobility practice group.

Coran Darling is a member of DLA Piper’s AI and Data Analytics team where he focuses on assisting companies navigate the challenges of emerging technology regulations and policy across the world, with particular focus on AI, open-source software, and data.

Coran is a recognised thought leader on the responsible governance and ethical deployment of AI and is a regular contributor to dialogue on the matter, often quoted in international media. His recent work on AI policy and generative AI has been subject of discussion by governmental select committees as part of enquiries into developing future regulatory mechanisms for AI in the UK and abroad. He is also a member of the Alan Turing Institute’s Data Ethics Group, where he contributes to the Institute’s research on ethical approaches to data use and best practices in data science.

Coran is a keen advocate for the ‘levelling up’ of international standards and best practices in the deployment of AI in the public and private sector. He is a committee member and advisor to the British Standards Institute’s ART/1 AI and IST/6 Data Communications programs, where he contributes to the development of technical and organizational best practices and standards for the ethical and responsible deployment of AI and data. As a recognized expert on AI by the OECD’s AI Policy Observatory, Coran contributes to the work of the OECD’s Expert Groups on AI Incidents and AI Risk & Accountability which focuses on creating frameworks and practices for the development of a responsible and trustworthy international AI environment. Coran is also a non-governmental member of the UK Government’s All Party Parliamentary Groups for AI and Data Analytics, which focuses on the advancement of the UK’s regulatory environment in the face of new international approaches to AI and data and technological advancements in the industry.

Naomi is an Associate in the Commercial and Technology Disputes team at Bristows. She advises clients in various sectors including IT, technology, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy. Naomi has had a longstanding interest in the impact of technology on the law and legal practice, having completed her LLM in Innovation, Technology and the Law, which had a particular focus on AI. Naomi has been involved with the SCL since her training contract, previously acting as Co-Chair of the SCL Trainee Group.

Daniel is an Associate in the Employment department. He advises clients on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment related matters including helping clients set and execute termination and restructuring strategies, advising on HR processes such as disciplinary matters and grievances, advising in relation to claims brought before the Employment Tribunal and advising on multi jurisdictional projects.

Technology and transactional intellectual property lawyer with a focus on start-ups and scale-ups in the emerging tech space, specialising in AI.

Iain Munro is a commercial barrister and mediator at 4 Pump Court. He has substantial expertise as sole and junior counsel in technology disputes, particularly IT project failures – both for employers and suppliers, in the public and private sectors, and across varied industries (such as healthcare, insurance, automotive, telecoms, and retail websites and warehousing). Iain also practices in the fields of energy, shipbuilding, shipping and construction disputes – benefitting from overlapping and varied experience in these areas. Iain is a specialist contributor to The Law of AI (Sweet & Maxwell, 2020) and the IT chapter of Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Precedents of Pleadings, and dabbles in podcasting (techlaw.chat). He is a member of Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution’s conciliator panel.

Alison trained at Pinsent Masons, qualifying in 2004, where she worked in their Technology team advising major retail and commercial sector companies on a diverse range of matters dealing with contentious and non-contentious IP, IT, Outsourcing, Information Law and Commercial issues. After six years she moved in-house to work for Ericsson Television Limited, a subsidiary of Ericsson. As Senior Group Legal Counsel she worked with Ericsson’s multimedia business unit advising on legal issues arising in relation to its content management and delivery solutions and compression products. She advised development and sales units on the legal implications of new technologies and their sale through different and new business models, looking in particular at Cloud service solutions, digital rights management issues, cyber security and internet of things. She currently works for LexisNexis PSL managing TMT content, with a focus on their Internet and New Technologies (including AI) modules.

Originally a biomedical scientist by training, Jack recently completed their training contract at Mishcon de Reya, and is now sole legal counsel at Basis Technologies, a global SAP solutions provider. Having acted as the Committee’s secretary for the past year, assisting in the Contractual Clauses project and organising the annual Conference, Jack has now transitioned to being a full member of the Committee.

Anne is a Partner at Michelmores and a former Technology & Telecoms General Counsel. During the course of her career Anne has worked in leading UK law firms and held senior in-house roles in major players in the TMT sector. Anne was General Counsel and co-founder of a fast-growth, private equity-backed international telecoms network operator and General Counsel of a major UK outsourced services company.

For more than 25 years, Anne has been advising at the leading edge of technology and telecommunications and the growth and commercial exploitation of digital services. Her experience matches the fast growth and evolution of this exciting sector.

Anne advises clients on commercial technology, digital infrastructure and communications matters as well as a wide range of complex commercial agreements in other sectors, including energy, financial services, hotels, hospitality and retail.

Anne has an LLM in Computer & Communications Law from Queen Mary, University of London, and is a member of the Legal Committee of OpenUK. Anne is also an author at the Centre for Legal Leadership supporting in-house counsel.

Outside of Anne’s works she is pleased to support the work of Uryadi’s Village, a non-profit organisation supporting vulnerable children in Ethiopia.

Sara is an experienced financial services lawyer. As in-house counsel at JP Morgan she advises on all legal aspects of emerging technologies and their impact on the banking industry. With a dual academic background in law and data science, she is able to take a practical approach to both identifying and solving legal issues involving artificial intelligence.

Lorna Woods is Professor of Internet Law at the University of Essex and a member of the Human Rights Centre there. She has research interests across a range of new technologies and the law, with a focus on social media and on surveillance. Recent projects include work with Carnegie UK Trust on a statutory duty of care for which she was awarded an OBE and participating in the OSCE work on AI and Content Moderation. She is also a member of the ANPR Users’ Group, chaired by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner and is senior associate research fellow at the Information Law and Policy Centre at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies.