Nick is a commercial lawyer with over 20 years of experience in contract negotiation and regulatory compliance for technology, media, e-commerce, gaming and digital advertising businesses.
Most recently, Nick advised in-house at Microsoft, including as Head of the Consumer & Marketing Legal Team responsible for legal, governance and strategic advice to high-profile consumer-facing brands including Xbox, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Search in EMEA.
He has also provided external and in-house legal support to music, film and television companies including Universal Music Group, ITV and Film4 where he was seconded to work on all aspects of the development and financing of multiple Oscar-winning productions.
Nick acts in a general counsel capacity to clients across the technology, media and retail sectors and delivers clear, commercial, actionable advice.
Nick is an exemplary lawyer and I recommend him highly. He gets the commercial big picture as well as the legal detail and has really delivered for our business at key moments.
James Butcher, Xbox Business Lead for EMEA
Expertise
- AI
- Cloud computing
- Commercial contracts
- Consumer regulation
- Digital advertising and ad tech
- E-commerce
- Intellectual property
- Gaming and interactive entertainment
- Marketing law
- Media production, financing and distribution
- Online terms and conditions
- Privacy and data protection (CIPP/E certified)
Experience
Technology
- Advised on the development, launch and marketing in EMEA of innovative hardware, including Xbox consoles and Surface laptops and digital services, including Microsoft 365 and Game Pass subscriptions.
- Re-designed Microsoft’s online e-commerce customer transaction journey for consumer law compliance.
- Developed new advertising agency incentives and contract structures for a search ads business, enabling compliant contracting with European partners and unlocking additional revenue streams.
- Co-ordinated responses for an international technology company to complex UK consumer, competition and advertising regulator investigations.
- Supported an international technology company’s executive leadership on responsible AI regulatory compliance and policy communications.
Media
- Negotiated a brand endorsement agreement between a Grammy-winning recording artist, a UK record label and an international technology company for the launch of a new internet browser.
- Advised an international record label on its music television business, including on its broadcaster commissioning agreements and content development agreements with digital platforms.
- Acted for United Agents in negotiating literary option, exec producer and voice acting agreements with Universal Studios for Hollywood A-List talent.
- Negotiated the production, finance and distribution agreements for numerous British and international film industry clients including acting for the UK Film Council and the British Film Institute.
- Advised on the successful launch of a high-profile retail store in a prime Oxford Circus London site from a marketing law perspective.
In-House Counsel
- Responsible for legal, compliance and risk management for Microsoft’s consumer-facing businesses across Europe.
- Developed and hosted a monthly legal and compliance training program for the EMEA commercial legal team of an international technology business.
- Created and trained the sales team of an international SaaS business on “Legal Rules of Engagement with Partners and Customers” to raise internal compliance standards.
- Negotiated licensing deals with sports rights holders for the supply of key Euros and Olympics content as secondee to an online video platform.
- Seconded in-house to Film4 to advise on all aspects of the development and production of two Oscar-winning feature films.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Career
Nick qualified as a solicitor in 2005. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2024, he worked at:
- Microsoft
- CMS (Olswang LLP)
- Film4 (as secondee)
- ITV (Carlton Productions)