MinterEllisonRuddWatts

Corporate and Commercial - Technology

Partner and  Head of Technology

Tom is an internationally recognised, award-winning technology law specialist with strong “black letter law” skills that he combines with a commercially pragmatic approach – traits highly valued by clients.

Head of the firm's leading TMT practice, Tom is passionate about technology and telecommunications, their everyday use, and their ability to transform organisations. This is a passion borne out of working in the industry for more than 20 years in both New Zealand and the UK. Drawing on significant in-house experience at Telefonica O2 UK and Spark New Zealand, Tom provides clients with commercial, practical, and pragmatic advice.

Listed and private companies, universities, banks, DHBs, public sector entities, government agencies, and start-ups all benefit from Tom’s expertise. He has developed a particular specialism negotiating agreements with software and service providers such as SAP, Salesforce, HPE, Oracle, Infor, and Microsoft, and system integrators and business integrators such as PwC, TCS, and Infosys.

Tom enjoys building relationships with his clients and assisting with all their technology needs. He advises on all technology law issues including outsourcing projects, managed services and “as a service”/cloud arrangements, agile contracting, technology transformation projects, and large-scale technology procurement, as well as general software licensing and support agreements. Tom also has a wealth of experience in transitional services arrangements, assisting our market-leading M&A team through asset and share sale arrangements.

Tom advises on emerging technology areas such as cyber security, artificial intelligence, and blockchain-related advice. He co-leads MinterEllisonRuddWatts’ Tech Innovation team, which is responsible for the development and implementation of technology solutions for internal use and for commercialisation. He is an author and regular speaker on transformational and strategic technology issues and developments.

English

BA, LLB (Hons), Canterbury University (2000)