Phil Robbins

In my view, nothing is better than when professional advisers fully understand and empathise with a client’s objectives and ambitions and actively strive to advance them. This will be through traditional legal advice but also by leveraging experience and contacts to find new, more commercially attractive, routes and solutions. It is fascinating and enjoyable to collaborate with clients to integrate compliance into their novel technologies – turning compliance into a unique selling point rather than allowing it to become a hurdle. Additionally, by listening closely to clients and then using regulatory insight and thorough analysis, it is often possible to reinvigorate innovative ideas or technologies that a client has shelved for being “too difficult” so that they become commercially viable products or services.

I have almost 30 years’ experience of providing cutting-edge and award-winning legal advice in defence and intelligence, with much of that being at the heart of Whitehall. I advised ministers and officials on the law applicable to offensive and defensive cyber operations, including considerations of Public International Law, International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law and domestic/international criminal law. I also specialised in emerging technologies and capability design, compliance and international data/information exchanges. Latterly, I was Head of Litigation and Disclosure, managing cases progressing through the courts and Investigatory Powers Tribunal. I also led the implementation of certain Equipment Interference and data acquisition aspects of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. I am a member of the National Cyber Security Centre Industry 100 scheme. I also support Cranfield University’s Cyber Masters course and am an Advisory Board member of the Washington College of Law Tech, Law & Security Program.