Anna Cook

Commercial Disputes

Anna is an experienced commercial litigator specialising in disputes relating to software and technology projects. Anna specialises in dispute resolution, including litigation and international arbitration. She has particular expertise in contractual disputes, IT projects, outsourcing and services, copyright, software licensing and confidentiality. Her work often includes multiple jurisdictions and close coordination with foreign lawyers.Anna’s practice has focused on the IT sector since 1997. She regularly advises clients about large-scale IT projects, including the management of risk in ongoing projects, termination and exit. Anna has acted in some of the largest and most complex IT cases including De Beers v Atos Origin, and is well regarded for her commercial approach. She also acts for clients in disputes arising out of the licensing of software and the misuse of confidential or proprietary information.Anna is a Fellow of the Society of Computers and Law and a member of its Advisory Board. She is also the Vice Chair of Programs for the Cyber Security, Data Privacy and Technology Committee of the IADC.

Experience:

Advising a major financial institution in respect of various disputes arising from transformation projects to create common platforms across its diverse businesses. Acting for a middleware vendor to manage a portfolio of disputes relating to the misuse of its products and the failure of its value added resellers to account for royalties. Defending various software companies against claims for breach of confidence and copyright infringement, including high stakes applications for injunctions. Acting for government departments in respect of disputes arising from the implementation of IT projects, including specific governance issues relating to software methodologies, delay and shortcomings in project planning as well as scope and quality issues. Assisting a software vendor to manage its customer relationships in the context of a major dispute about the quality of its software, including the termination of various customer contracts and demands for repayment of licence and implementation fees. Defending a client in a long-running breach of confidence claim in which a competitor sought to use the proceedings to drive our client out of business.

University of Leeds (BA History (Hons) 1993)College of Law, London, CPE and LPC 1995