Claire Archibald

Legal Director, Browne Jacobson

Claire Archibald, a Legal Director in our education team, specialises in data protection, freedom of information and AI governance. Having worked within a school and led a Local Authority DPO service for schools, Claire understands the sector's unique challenges and goals. Clients value Claire's blend of legal knowledge, project management experience, mediation and counselling skills, alongside her pragmatic, personable, and engaging approach.

Claire delivers support across three core tiers:

• Legal support: Expert and robust advice on all data law challenges, including handling Subject Access Requests (SARs), Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, managing data breaches, cyber-attacks, complaints, conducting DPIAs, information sharing, EdTech/AI risk assessment, records retention, and overall compliance.
• Developing culture: Collaborating with clients to build a proactive data and AI governance programme. Utilising audits and our Empower DPO service, she helps clients anticipate risks, embed lessons learned from past experiences, and develop a culture of continuous improvement.
• Innovation: Strategic advice for ambitious organisations focused on leveraging their data assets. She helps align data project ambitions with robust compliance frameworks, enabling institutions to responsibly unlock the power of data and drive innovation, with a particular focus on AI innovation.

A recognised authority in education data protection and records management (co-authoring the IRMS Toolkit for Schools), Claire's expertise is acknowledged by industry awards like the Picasso Europe Data Protection Champion, alongside specialist qualifications including the IAPP CPIM and AI Governance certifications.

Oliver Geidel

Associate Director - Research Contracts & Compliance, Division of Research, Enterprise and Innovation, University of Bristol

Oliver Geidel is an Associate Director at the University of Bristol responsible for:

1. The provision of legal services in relation to research and innovation;
2. National and economic security legislation across the university;
3. Programme lead for the implementation of trusted research and due diligence across the university; and
4. Commercial negotiation in relation to large scale research activity with commercial entities.

Rohit Kahlon

Senior Engagement Manager, Legora

Rohit is a Senior Engagement Manager at Legora, a collaborative AI-powered workspace transforming how legal professionals review, draft and research. Rohit works closely with firms to embed AI into their legal workflows, helping teams drive efficiency, consistency, and smarter collaboration across matters.

James Mervyn

Director, Legal Engineering, Legora

James is part of the Legal Engineering team at Legora where he helps clients maximise the potential of the platform for their specific practice area. Prior to joining Legora, James practiced as a structured finance lawyer at Ashurst, Goldman Sachs and Sidley Austin before then becoming a consultant in the Newlaw team at PwC.

Conor Moran

Associate, Browne Jacobson

Conor is a data protection and commercial contracts associate in the firm’s commercial law team. Conor specialises in advising clients on regulatory compliance issues related to data privacy, and in drafting, negotiating and advising on various commercial contracts.

Conor trained and qualified as an associate at a top law firm in Ireland before moving to London in December 2023 to join Browne Jacobson.

Conor has significant experience advising tech, media and retail clients on data compliance programs, including advising clients on regulatory investigations, data breaches, privacy notices, international data transfers, transfer risk assessments, cookies compliance, direct marketing, data subject access requests, data protection impact assessments, legitimate interest assessments and artificial intelligence. He also advises clients on other aspects of tech regulation, including in relation to online safety compliance.

Conor also has extensive experience advising clients on agency, franchising, SaaS and outsourcing agreements, particularly in the tech and retail sectors. This also includes advising on consumer law issues related to consumer terms and conditions and advertising.

Richard Nicholas

Partner, Browne Jacobson

Richard heads up the data, digital and sourcing teams in Birmingham. Recognised as a leading expert in technology law by Legal 500 and in Chambers and Partners, Richard advises on an array of matters including outsourcing, e-commerce, data protection and contracts. Richard advises on the adoption of new technologies, from development through procurement and implementation to support and resale.

Richard has worked with technology suppliers such as Vodafone, BT, Tech Data and NTT Data as well as their customers, including many of the UK’s largest retailers, banks, government departments and charities. His experience of negotiating on different sides of a transaction means that he’s well placed to anticipate and deal with issues that arise.

Richard also heads up Ascensus, our programme for in-house lawyers and business leaders, focusing on the needs of general counsel, DPOs and business owners. He has trained several hundred in-house lawyers and is a regular speaker at data and digital law events on topics such as dealing with a data breach, use of smart contracts, blockchain and NFTs. He has been interviewed on BBC Radio 4s ‘You and Yours’ and on local news on digital disruption and changes to data law.

Clare Thoresson

Founder, Quiet Counsel

Clare is a privacy lawyer and DPO working as an independent legal consultant who has deep experience building and scaling privacy programmes for global organisations and high-growth businesses. Her background spans private practice and senior in-house roles, including leading data protection functions in financial services and at EY. She now works under her own banner, Quiet Counsel, helping organisations manage privacy, AI, and technology contracting risk. Clare has served as fractional sole counsel, supplemented an existing in-house team working on data project business as usual, and led change projects such as data protection gap analyses, EU AI Act readiness assessments and subsequent programme uplifts. Clare also qualified as a counsellor and pays close attention to bringing people along on the privacy journey as well as complying with the law.

Stewart Dresner

Chief Executive, Privacy Laws & Business

Stewart graduated from the University of Lancaster in Politics and Marketing. In 1975 Stewart initiated research on Open Government at the UK Consumers’ Association. He then made an independent trip to the USA and Canada, meeting consumer advocates, politicians and journalists researching Freedom of Information (FoI) and privacy legislation. He had articles published in The Geographical Magazine, in 1977 on the use of the FoI Act by the Navajo Tribe of Arizona, and The Times in 1978 on the use of the FoI Act to improve car safety. In May 1980, the Outer Circle Policy Unit published his Open Government: Lessons from America. His career included consumer research and working for The Economist as a business journalist where he wrote occasionally on privacy laws and honed his skills as an investigator and writer.

He launched the Privacy Laws & Business Newsletter in February 1987. In October 1988 he organised PL&B’s first international conference. Stewart co-founded and chaired the UK’s Data Protection Forum, and has spoken at conferences around the world. He lives and works in Pinner, has a beautiful wife, who wrote this, and 3 adult sons.

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