Mishcon de Reya has appointed partner Ashley Williams as the head of its Technology Group. This is a new position and an enlarged group for the firm which acts for clients across the entire technology ecosystem.
Ashley is a partner and technology lawyer specialising in non-contentious technology and data protection matters. He collaborates with high-growth tech companies and multinational corporations to maximise their technology assets.
He has extensive experience representing clients on technology matters across diverse industries with a particular focus on bringing emerging technology solutions to market. He is a leading lawyer in the field of AI having spent the last decade working with tech companies at the cutting edge of AI and machine learning.
Ashley regularly works with clients on matters with a cross-border element and his client base beyond the UK is drawn from his international network across the US, EU and Asia.
Mishcon de Reya is recognised as a leading practice in the Legal500's new AI category, the Legal 500 IT & Telecoms rankings, and the Chambers & Partners IT & Outsourcing rankings.
The firm is embedded within the tech ecosystem and has a longstanding and impressive record of technology experience. Working with global businesses, the firm helps them move fast to exploit emerging opportunities or fundamentally transform entire parts of their business. Its work includes delivering strategically important transactions where the line between business and personal is often complex but one which is crucial to understand. The firm is also involved in around 25% of all UK venture capital fundraising, working closely with founders, emerging companies, VCs, investors and accelerators developing the technology of the future.
Jeremy Hertzog, Chair of the Innovation department at Mishcon de Reya said:
“Our enlarged Technology Group and the appointment of Ashley to lead it underlines Mishcon de Reya’s longstanding commitment to serving and growing our technology clients who range from founders, startups and scaleups to some of the largest multinationals. We are in London, Cambridge and Oxford – the UK engines of innovation, commerce and research excellence - as well as the high-growth global centres of wealth and innovation, from Israel to Saudi Arabia to Singapore and Hong Kong. Our reach and network are truly global."
“We have a wide range of experience working with clients across the innovation community, from established multinational corporates with diverse and complex requirements, to emerging and scaling companies through their growth and eventual exit, to the technology transfer functions of leading universities and research institutes."
“Ashley’s deep experience across the whole technology ecosystem as well as his international experience will help us to deliver exceptional legal services globally. Ashley has been at the forefront of driving our technology business to ever-greater heights and I could not be more pleased that he has agreed to lead our Technology Group.”
Ashley Williams commented:
"Mishcon de Reya’s Technology Group provides exceptional legal services across the full tech ecosystem equally; from early stage and high-growth companies through to large, innovative organisations, in relation to all of their technology-related needs. While our offering will remain tech-agnostic, we will continue to pursue real depth in core sectors such as AI, fintech and deep tech and maintain a willingness and passion to adapt as the emerging tech landscape evolves. We will practise what we preach by becoming a more tech-enabled practice to deliver projects more efficiently for our clients, in a way which enhances the client experience."
“The team which forms the Technology Group has the breadth and depth of expertise to solve our tech clients’ most complex and challenging issues. We have ambitious plans to expand our reach and do more work with the type of innovation clients we love to work with. I am looking forward to bringing my passion for technology and my clients to take our technology practice from quietly brilliant to loudly exceptional.”