Agenda

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

Speakers:

Alethea Au, Stikeman Elliott LLP,  Canada

Alethea Au is an M&A lawyer in Stikeman Elliott’s Toronto office. She has worked with private equity funds and strategic corporate buyers, and founder clients across various industries in complex matters related to M&A, including structuring, risk mitigation, divestitures, investments, use of representation and warranty insurance and related transactional issues. Alethea is recognized by Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory in M&A and private equity, and by Expert Guides in technology. She is a member of the American Bar Association, International Technology Law Association, Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals, and Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance - Women in Technology.

Heather Antoine, Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP,  United States

Heather A. Antoine is a Partner and Chair of the Firm’s Trademark & Brand Protection and Privacy & Data Security practice groups.  Heather is focused on guiding businesses through the ever-expanding maze of privacy laws, both domestically and internationally. Heather works with companies to design and strengthen their privacy and data security policies and practices, to help prevent data breaches, and to minimize the risks associated therein. Heather’s practice also focuses on protecting a company’s intellectual property. Heather’s practice includes trademark clearance and selection, domestic and foreign trademark prosecution, enforcement, proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), licensing, trade secret protection, copyright, rights of publicity, domain names disputes, and general client counseling. Heather supports companies at each stage – from due diligence when choosing a name, to ongoing brand management, to ensuring portfolios are safeguarded and ready for growth and sale.

Speakers:

Ridwaan Boda, ENSafrica, South Africa

Ridwaan Boda is an Executive in ENSafrica’s Corporate Commercial practice, where he heads up the TMT team. He is also a member of the United Nations Global Pulse Panel of International Data Privacy Experts. Ridwaan has considerable experience and expertise in the TMT arena, having worked and advised on some of South Africa’s largest and most prominent information and communications technology (“ICT”) transactions. Ridwaan has advised and acted on behalf of various listed companies, state-owned entities, quasi-government corporations, and public sector bodies in a wide variety of sectors, including financial services, petrochemicals, retail, health care, pharmaceutical, technology and resources. He also has significant global experience, having worked in the United Kingdom and on a number of multijurisdictional matters.

Fabio Pereira, Veirano Advogados, Brazil

Fabio Pereira is a partner at the IP, IT and Privacy practices at Veirano Advogados, in Sao Paulo. He holds an LL.B in Law, a Post-graduate Degree in Civil Law, and an LL.M in Intellectual Property from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. He is the co-coordinator for the Digital Rights and Privacy Commission and a member of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Intellectual Property Association (ABPI). He is also the Chair of the Privacy Committee at ItechLaw. He has worked as in-house counsel for TV Globo and for the Roberto Marinho Foundation, in Brazil, and as Legal Affairs & IP Manager for the University College London Hospitals, in England.

Laarni Vinas, Shusaku·Yamamoto, Japan

Laarni is a triple-qualified lawyer in the Philippines, New York, and England and Wales. She is currently serving as the Legal Director of SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO, a leading and highly-esteemed IP and technology multinational-firm based in Osaka, Japan. In addition to this, Lani is also a Senior Lecturer in the University of the Philippines, College of Law. Furthermore, Laarni is serving as a Digital Privacy expert in ABA ROLI’s Advisory Group of Expert, as well as the Intellectual Property Committee co-head of the Philippine Bar Association. Laarni also acts as a co-Vice-President of Women in Law Japan (https://womeninlawjapan.org/), with the aim to advance and foster women's rights and women in the legal profession.

Speakers:

Stuart Davey, Pinsent Masons, United Kingdom

Stuart advises on cross-border data breaches and cyber incidents. He helps organizations ensure compliance with their security and reporting obligations under relevant data protection legislation and regulation. He advises clients with the increasing challenges of data and cyber-related litigation. Stuart also specializes in resolving disputes arising out of large-scale and technically complex IT projects. He advises both suppliers and users of technology, with a focus on dispute resolution and renegotiation of contracts for business process outsourcing and software/systems implementation projects. 

Polo van der Putt, Vondst Advocaten, Netherlands

Polo van der Putt heads the IT and sourcing practice of Vondst. Amongst others Polo deals all sorts of IT contracts. He litigates on a regular basis. Besides he specialises in data protection law. Polo is board member of the Dutch Arbitration Institute for IT Disputes and chief editor of the legal magazine Internet Law.

Marc Williams, Nelson Mullins, United States

Marc Williams is the Managing Partner of the West Virginia office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He has a national trial and appellate practice involving complex civil litigation, class actions, data breach and privacy litigation and commercial litigation. He has had first chair responsibility for over 150 trials and appeals in his career. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as President of three national legal organizations: DRI, Lawyers for Civil Justice and the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence.

Speakers:

Stacy Zosky, STITT + ZOSKY, Legal Search and Consulting, Canada

Stacy Zosky co-founded Stitt + Zosky (Legal Search and Consulting) after leading lateral recruitment and associate talent management at Goodmans LLP for over 18 years where she successfully hired, integrated, coached, and managed legal talent. Stacy has spent her career building strong practice teams and supporting lawyers in their professional growth. She is an executive coach trained at the Adler School of Professional Coaching and Business Coaching Advantage. As a legal recruiter and coach, Stacy is passionate about finding law firms and companies top talent, and helping lawyers, at all levels, identify and achieve their career goals.

Daniel Hart, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, United States

An Atlanta, Georgia-based partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Daniel Hart advises clients on attracting and retaining top talent, prevents poaching by competitors, and represents clients in contentious employment litigation. Dan's practice spans employment and commercial litigation disputes involving employee trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and employee mobility and single-plaintiff or multi-plaintiff lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination, harassment or other employment-related claims. Outside the courtroom, Dan provides day-to-day counseling and advice to employers about the laws affecting the employment relationship, and he combines his experiences as a litigator and counselor to provide clients with practical solutions to employment challenges.

Speakers:

Michael Avis, Tapvigo Solutions, Canada

Michael Avis is the founder and president of Tapvigo Solutions Inc., an innovative communications and education company based in Toronto, Canada.  With over  20 years of experience as an educator, consultant, technologist, researcher, and curriculum designer, Michael has worked at all levels of the education system both domestically and internationally.  He is passionate about purpose-driven immersive technology and the need for accessible and equitable digital and communications literacy.

Elias Ahonen, University of Turku, Finland, UAE

Elias Ahonen is a Finnish-Canadian blockchain and legal expert based in Dubai and described in 2016  as “one of the first Bitcoin historians” in 2016 for his ethnographic book Physical Bitcoins, which was followed by Blockland (2020). His doctoral research at the University of Turku Law School concerns the intersection of blockchain and international law. A columnist for Cointelegraph, his expertise is acknowledged by international media including The Wall Street Journal. Involved in the industry since 2013, he launched consulting firm Token Valley in 2017 and is a Director for Roqqu, a cryptocurrency exchange with 1.4 million users.

Speakers:

Stuart Davey, Pinsent Masons, United Kingdom

Stuart advises on cross-border data breaches and cyber incidents. He helps organizations ensure compliance with their security and reporting obligations under relevant data protection legislation and regulation.  He advises clients with the increasing challenges of data and cyber-related litigation. Stuart also specializes in resolving disputes arising out of large-scale and technically complex IT projects. He advises both suppliers and users of technology, with a focus on dispute resolution and renegotiation of contracts for business process outsourcing and software/systems implementation projects. 

Polo van der Putt, Vondst Advocaten, Netherlands

Polo van der Putt heads the IT and sourcing practice of Vondst. Amongst others Polo deals all sorts of IT contracts. He litigates on a regular basis. Besides he specialises in data protection law. Polo is board member of the Dutch Arbitration Institute for IT Disputes and chief editor of the legal magazine Internet Law.

Marc Williams, Nelson Mullins, United States

Marc Williams is the Managing Partner of the West Virginia office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He has a national trial and appellate practice involving complex civil litigation, class actions, data breach and privacy litigation and commercial litigation. He has had first chair responsibility for over 150 trials and appeals in his career. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has served as President of three national legal organizations: DRI, Lawyers for Civil Justice and the National Foundation for Judicial Excellence.

Speakers:

Stacy Zosky, STITT + ZOSKY, Legal Search and Consulting, Canada

Stacy Zosky co-founded Stitt + Zosky (Legal Search and Consulting) after leading lateral recruitment and associate talent management at Goodmans LLP for over 18 years where she successfully hired, integrated, coached, and managed legal talent. Stacy has spent her career building strong practice teams and supporting lawyers in their professional growth. She is an executive coach trained at the Adler School of Professional Coaching and Business Coaching Advantage. As a legal recruiter and coach, Stacy is passionate about finding law firms and companies top talent, and helping lawyers, at all levels, identify and achieve their career goals.

Daniel Hart, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, United States

An Atlanta, Georgia-based partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Daniel Hart advises clients on attracting and retaining top talent, prevents poaching by competitors, and represents clients in contentious employment litigation. Dan's practice spans employment and commercial litigation disputes involving employee trade secrets, restrictive covenants, and employee mobility and single-plaintiff or multi-plaintiff lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination, harassment or other employment-related claims. Outside the courtroom, Dan provides day-to-day counseling and advice to employers about the laws affecting the employment relationship, and he combines his experiences as a litigator and counselor to provide clients with practical solutions to employment challenges.

Speakers:

Michael Avis, Tapvigo Solutions, Canada

Michael Avis is the founder and president of Tapvigo Solutions Inc., an innovative communications and education company based in Toronto, Canada.  With over  20 years of experience as an educator, consultant, technologist, researcher, and curriculum designer, Michael has worked at all levels of the education system both domestically and internationally.  He is passionate about purpose-driven immersive technology and the need for accessible and equitable digital and communications literacy.

Elias Ahonen, University of Turku, Finland, UAE

Elias Ahonen is a Finnish-Canadian blockchain and legal expert based in Dubai and described in 2016  as “one of the first Bitcoin historians” in 2016 for his ethnographic book Physical Bitcoins, which was followed by Blockland (2020). His doctoral research at the University of Turku Law School concerns the intersection of blockchain and international law. A columnist for Cointelegraph, his expertise is acknowledged by international media including The Wall Street Journal. Involved in the industry since 2013, he launched consulting firm Token Valley in 2017 and is a Director for Roqqu, a cryptocurrency exchange with 1.4 million users.

Speakers:

Mitko Kraushkov, Karushkov Legal Solutions, Bulgaria

Mitko provides solutions and advice to companies whose assets include technology or employ technology in their business operations, amongst which quantum telco, payment companies, media, machine learning cpmpanies etc.

Martim Taborda Barata, ICTLC, Portugal

Partner at ICTLC, in charge of managing privacy/data protection legal compliance strategies with multinational companies (and their local subsidiaries), EU institutions and international organisations. Qualified Portuguese lawyer, primarily focused on advising local start-ups and smaller companies (particularly software and video game developers) on privacy/data protection, intellectual property - mostly copyright and trademarks - IT and video game law matters in general.

Speakers:

Jennifer Davidson, Deeth Williams Wall LLP, Canada

Jennifer Davidson is a partner at Deeth Williams Wall (Toronto), practicing in Cybersecurity and Technology law. Jennifer advises on the digital risk lifecycle, including incident preparedness, response, ransomware negotiations, mitigation, and regulatory compliance.  Jennifer holds a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and post-graduate diplomas in public relations and web development. Her education and experience offer clients a unique perspective on the legal, PR and technical considerations of breach response. Jennifer is the President of the Canadian Technology Law Association (CAN-TECH), Executive Member of Ontario Bar Association’s IP&IT Law Section and faculty at Osgoode’s Drafting and Negotiation IT Agreements program.

Roland Mathys, Schellenberg Wittmer, Switzerland

Roland Mathys is an attorney-at-law and partner at Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd in Zurich/Switzerland where he heads the firm's technology and data law team. He studied law and computer science in Basel and Zurich and holds an LL.M. in technology law from the London School of Economics (LSE). In his practice, he regularly advises and represents clients on, among other things, large IT and outsourcing projects, cloud and XaaS projects, Swiss and EU data protection law, legal issues relating to digital platforms and new technologies, and cybersecurity. Roland Mathys publishes in his areas of expertise and regularly speaks at international and national conferences. He is Vice-Chair of the Technology Law Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA), Past Chair of the Oversight Committee of the International Technology Law Association (ITechLaw), Co-Chair of the Law Commission of swissICT, member of the Steering Board of digitalswitzerland and Co-Editor of sic!, Switzerland's leading journal for intellectual property, information and competition law. He is currently authoring a publication on legal aspect of cybersecurity which will be the first of its kind in Switzerland. Roland Mathys is listed in leading international lawyer directories as a recognised expert in technology and data law, namely Chambers (Ti-er 1), Legal500 (Leading Individual) and Who's Who Legal (Thought Leader).

Speakers:

Dimitri Timmer, SAP, Netherlands

Dimitri Timmer supports SAP’s Netherlands market unit as a legal director and is responsible for all commercial legal aspects of SAP’s business in the Netherlands. Mr. Timmer previously worked in private practice, at Microsoft as a Senior Counsel in the USA and in the Netherlands and served as a legal director within the Corporate IT department of Royal Philips Electronics. Mr. Timmer has 20 years of experience as a legal professional, more specifically in the field of IP and IT. He has ample experience when it comes to, negotiating and draft IT/cloud contracts, complex multinational outsourcing deals, global license agreements, managing global data-breaches. Mr. Timmer is a graduate of Nijmegen University and the post doctorate Grotius Academy on IT law.

Speakers:

Edward McNicholas, Ropes & Gray LLP, United States

Edward McNicholas is a co-leader of Ropes & Gray’s data, privacy & cybersecurity practice. He represents technologically sophisticated clients facing complex data, privacy, and cybersecurity issues in litigation, investigative, and counseling matters. His clients include financial institutions, technology companies, insurance companies, branded pharma companies, healthcare providers, data brokers, and e-commerce retailers. 

Ian De Freitas, Farrer & Co, United Kingdom

Ian is a partner at Farrer & Co in London and head of its Data, IP & Technology Disputes Team. As part of his practice, Ian handles the regulatory and reputational fallout from data breaches and cyber incidents along with the follow-on litigation claims. Many of these incidents are cross-border in nature and Ian has particular experience in helping North American-based clients navigate their way through the European aspects of a breach.