Michael Bywell

Partner

Michael is a senior commercial litigator with expertise in the technology and data breach areas. Over the past 25+ years he has represented clients in the UK and internationally on a range of commercial matters including IT and digital transformation disputes, software licensing matters and large-scale data breach and data privacy civil litigation.

Those clients include: global technology providers/suppliers based in the UK, North America, France and New Zealand; purchasers of technology products and services (including financial institutions and telecoms companies); app developers; and on-line traders.

Notable cases include representing EDS (as was) in relation to its high- profile dispute with HMRC over the performance of a new IT system to process tax credits in the UK. Michael represented the same client in a large and complex High Court case against a listed travel company which, at the time, was one of the largest IT cases to come before the English courts.

More recent cases include purchaser side advisory and dispute resolution advice in relation to a major digital transformation programme in the financial services sector.

Michael also advises in relation to: software licensing disputes; protecting IP owners from illegal use of their products by third parties; and forensic investigations into the theft of confidential information by third parties.

In the data breach area, Michael has considerable UK and international experience of civil litigation arising from alleged breaches of data protection legislation litigation including two substantial representative class actions filed in the English courts.

Michael is qualified in England & Wales, Australia and New Zealand. He Chairs the ITechLaw Disputes Committee and, in 2019, co-wrote the Society for Computers and Law Adjudication Scheme. He is also a panel adjudicator for that scheme.

Recent speaking engagements include data breach presentations to audiences in the UK and Australia (including in-house legal departments) and several webinars on Online Safety and Digital Services legislation in the UK and the EU respectively.