About

As head of BT’s Australasia legal team, Dan Cootes has advised on many complex global telecommunications and outsourcing deals, as well as supporting the BT business through a sustained period of growth in the AMEA region. ‘During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work on some very challenging global ICT, acquisition and multiparty joint venture deals – and everyone enjoys a post-deal adrenaline rush’, Cootes says. ‘But increasingly I get a lot of satisfaction seeing our team drive sustainable business growth and helping the company deliver its goals’. During his three years in the role, Cootes has worked to reposition the legal function in its interactions with the business, and make it more user-friendly. ‘We’ve spent a lot of time ensuring that the legal team takes a proactive approach, scanning the horizon for risk and finding better ways of getting business done, rather than taking a more traditional reactive approach’, he says. ‘We’ve therefore invested in tools, templates and “ready to use” advice for the business so it can get on with doing what it does, and legal can spend more time “actively worrying”’. Cootes has particular expertise in IT and data privacy law, and is praised highly by sources for his rigorous analytical approach and industry understanding. He previously worked in HBSC’s in-house team, after practising at CMS and Corrs Chambers Westgarth. With his own experience in the field, he would like to see outside counsel work more collaboratively with their in-house counterparts. ‘Many law firms do this well, but I’m not sure that it’s always appreciated how much corporate counsel need external providers to integrate effectively as part of their team. This can mean a willingness to do things such as get to know the client’s corporate policies before negotiations; be prepared to be involved in part (but not all) of a deal or dispute; or work on-site and absorb information as we go’.