Toby is a Partner in the Technology team in the Innovation department.
He is an experienced technology, commercial contracts, and scale up lawyer who has specialisms in deeptech, defence tech and space.
He specialises in supporting innovative, high growth, and mature technology businesses, providing advice to founders and their boards as they scale their company. Toby worked in private practice in London and the Middle East for 7 years, before moving in house in the technology space, eventually serving as General Counsel in several scaling technology businesses. During this period, he worked with some truly pioneering companies, most recently in the role of Chief Legal and Operating Officer at one of Europe's most successful lawtech scaleups, SeedLegals. As a past GC of several leading technology companies, he has built up a reputation in the market as a trusted advisor to founders, senior management, and their boards as they scale their companies.
During his first stint in private practice with Allen & Overy he worked primarily with original equipment manufacturers such as BAE Systems (which he would later go-on to join), Boeing, Airbus and Thales. He supported these businesses on some of their largest deals across a range of transaction types including new technology generation programmes in radar, stealth, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and other 5th generation capabilities and platforms.
Toby is also a Startup Mentor for Codebase / Lawtech UK, and is an Advisory Board member to a range of startups. He is also a member of the City of London Lawtech Sounding Board.
Key Experience
Toby is well versed in providing leadership across a range of transaction types, including:
- Outsourcing (having overseen the negotiation of outsourcing arrangements with various external providers with contract values in excess of £100m),
- Technology generation agreements (comprising complex partnering, JV, work shares, collaboration and teaming agreements, licensing and IP exploitation agreements) worth £1bn+,
- Government procurement programmes
- Complex supply chain arrangements across a range of products and verticals, advising on master services agreements and other typical, and often novel, commercial contract structures (particularly in the defence tech space)
- The full range of ancillary support that is required alongside a commercially focused practice (such as data privacy and cybersecurity).
Career History
Partner, Mishcon de Reya LLP
Chief Legal Officer, SeedLegals
Head of Legal and Compliance, Divido
General Counsel, Snowfall
Counsel, BAE Systems Plc
Associate, Allen & Overy (London and Dubai)
Legal Counsel, BAE Systems