Vanessa is a technology and data lawyer who has been at the forefront of advising clients using internet-enabled business models for over 20 years. She specialises in advising VC-backed, high-growth businesses during their scale-up journey on a general counsel-like basis, particularly those who are data-rich and use SaaS, platform, or marketplace models. Her practice has a focus on two of the biggest growth areas in the digital economy: data platforms and gig/talent platforms.

Vanessa has extensive expertise in applying traditional regulations to new online business models (e.g. data protection, employment, tax, sector-specific regulations), advising on structure, contracts, intellectual property, and data protection. She works with client product teams to ensure compliance by design and advises on legal strategy, and user experience.

Having registered the company that became Ocado as a trainee, her career began with advising early UK internet giants including Tesco, Amazon, Google and Apple. She’s worked across e-commerce, mobile, apps, digital media, big data, and the gig economy.

Vanessa chairs the Open Knowledge Foundation, which is a pioneer in openness and data literacy, including developing the Open Data Commons licences. She holds CIPP/E and CIPM certifications.

  • I have engaged Vanessa on a number of E-Commerce/Tech projects at all stages of my career at Tesco.com and Wiggle. Vanessa is an unusual character as lawyers, go being both pragmatic and highly commercial. The quality of her output is always excellent, on time, and on budget. She is also great fun to work with and I will engage her services again and again.

    Maddy Turley
    E-Commerce Consultant specialising in Cross Border Trading, Localisation and International Strategy

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Keynote

What to watch out for under the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan

Vanessa Barnett Vanessa Barnett
17 January 2025
News

Keystone Law advises Alteration Earth PLC on reverse takeover and admission to AIM

Simon Holden Simon Holden
Vanessa Barnett Vanessa Barnett
Simon Margesson Simon Margesson
16 January 2025

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  • Strategy and business affairs: providing horizon scanning and legal/business strategy advice, as well as regulator relationship management.
  • Governance and compliance: in particular, data economy regulation and gig/talent economy employment & tax regulation, including off-payroll working/IR35, as well as wider business-wide issues such as directors’ duties and employee/supplier policies. Also supporting compliance visits/audits by regulators.
  • Planning and stress testing: advising at the start of a business or product launch on what needs covering from a legal point of view: structure, relationships, IP, data and regulatory regime.
  • Scale-up/internationalisation: taking a ‘home country’ software as a service/platform/marketplace business model and providing strategic advice on how best to structure compliance and contracts to scale up into new product markets/countries based on client risk appetite model (including foreign adviser selection/budgeting/managing).
  • Privacy, data protection: advising on privacy and personal data aspects of online businesses (data mapping, policies, security, international transfer, notices, processing agreements, training and breach/crisis management).
  • Big data/innovation: advising on big data/innovation aspects of online business (rights and licensing, data analytics, data exchanges, machine learning, AI).
  • Data contracts: advising and negotiating contracts for data creation, collection, use and licensing and data-enabled services.
  • Gig/talent economy contracts: developing gig/platform economy platform terms and negotiating contracts for supporting services (compliance and payment services).
  • Technology contracts: advising and negotiating contracts for the development, licensing and sale of software, apps, websites and content and technology-enabled services.
  • General business contracts: advising and negotiating contracts for buying and selling goods and services (NDA, consultancy, marketing, sponsorship, joint venture, partnering, reselling, outsourcing, white labelling).
  • Boilerplate and template documents: developing brand and market-appropriate boilerplate and template documents for sales teams and/or in-house legal teams.
  • Legal audits: looking at an established business and auditing whether it is legally compliant across a number of areas (data protection, IP, regulatory, key relationships).
  • Supporting procurement teams: pre-tender analysis and tender support, and advice on exiting from pre-existing supplier relationships.
  • Supporting fund raising/exit transactions: due diligence, warranties and indemnities, transitional services.