All researchers in the Cloud Legal Project team are, or have been, members of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary, University of London.
Christopher Millard has 40 years of experience in technology law in academia and legal practice, and has published widely on legal and regulatory issues relating to information technology, communications, privacy and Internet law. He is Senior Counsel to the law firm Bristows and is a Fellow (and past Chair) of the Society for Computers and Law. He is Editor and Co-Author of Cloud Computing Law (Oxford University Press, 2nd edition 2021) and is a founding editor of the International Journal of Law and IT. A selection of his papers is available for free download from SSRN.
Chris Reed is author of (inter alia) Internet Law (2nd ed, Cambridge University Press), editor/author of Computer Law (6th ed, Oxford University Press), former UK delegate to Hague Conference on Private International Law (e-commerce discussions), part-time practitioner for various UK law firms since 1991. Recent major articles: “The Law of Unintended Consequences – embedded business models in IT regulation”, (2007) JILT; “Taking Sides on Technology Neutrality”, (2007) SCRIPT-ed.
Ian Walden's publications include EDI and the Law (1989), Information Technology and the Law (1990), EDI Audit and Control (1993), Cross-border Electronic Banking (1995, 2000), Telecommunications Law Handbook (1997), E-Commerce Law and Practice in Europe (2001), Telecommunications Law and Regulation (2001, 2005, 2009), Computer Crimes and Digital Investigations (2007) and Media Law and Practice (2009). Ian is a solicitor and is Of Counsel to the global law firm Baker & McKenzie and he is Chair of the Industry Working Group of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
Niamh Gleeson is a qualified solicitor with over 15 years experience as a practising lawyer. She has worked for law firms in Brussels and London, before working as an in-house lawyer in London for over 10 years in the communications and IT industry for British Telecom plc and Apple respectively. She has an LLM in EU law from the College of Europe in Bruges and a doctorate from Kings College London in EU Competition law.
A qualified Greek attorney–at–law, Dimitra Kamarinou worked for Commercial law firms and Human Rights organisations, before joining a London based Intellectual Property Strategy Consultancy firm, where she worked alongside a team of scientists, solicitors, and patent attorneys advising a wide range of clients, from technology startups to multinationals, on the management and monetisation of IP. Dimitra has obtained an LLM in Human Rights Law with Distinction from Birkbeck University of London (2010) and an LLM in Corporate and Commercial Law with Merit from Queen Mary University of London (2012).
Dave Michels is a Researcher on the Cloud Legal Project, conducting research on various legal aspects of cloud computing, with a particular interest in IP, criminal law, and human rights. Prior to joining CCLS, Dave worked as a Strategy and Policy Associate at Ofcom, the independent UK regulator for the communications markets. Before joining Ofcom, Dave worked as an Associate Legal Officer for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Dave obtained an LLM in Intellectual Property Law from LSE (with distinction, 2014) and an LLM in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam (Cum Laude, 2009).
Vassiliki Koukoulioti was awarded a Microsoft-funded Cloud Legal Project CCLS PhD Studentship. Her research focuses on the tax law implications of cloud computing and the digitalization of the economy. She is a qualified Greek attorney-at-law and prior to joining the Cloud Legal Project she worked as a tax lawyer for law firms in Athens, Greece and for five years as a senior tax consultant at PwC Athens providing tax advice and tax litigation services to multinational enterprises and high net worth individuals. Vasiliki has a PhD from QMUL (2022), an LLM in Tax Law with Merit from QMUL (2012) and an Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT) modular certificate from the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), London (2014).
Laura Aliaga Martinez has been awarded a Microsoft-funded Cloud Legal Project CCLS PhD Studentship. She is a senior qualified Spanish attorney– at–law and prior to joining the Cloud Legal Project and the Microsoft Cloud Computing Research Centre she worked for a major law firm in Spain and several Spanish law firm boutiques in ICT law. For the past six years she has lectured at several Spanish Universities and Business Schools. She is a mentor on an Accelerator Programme for early stage innovative technology companies. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the IT and TMT department at the Valencian Bar Association and has been appointed as an expert in her field by the Spanish Platform of Expert Women.
Sara is a teaching fellow at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), a guest teacher at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Portuguese qualified lawyer. She is a researcher with the Cloud Legal Project, currently working on a research project about health data sharing governance. Sara obtained an LLM and a PhD in Commercial Law from the Queen Mary University of London. Before embracing an academic career, she was a corporate lawyer.
Simon Bradshaw is a Barrister at Cornwall Street Chambers in Birmingham. Simon originally qualified in electronics and communications and served as an Engineering Officer in the Royal Air Force. His RAF experience included management of secure communications networks, technical analysis and IT project management. Having cross-qualified in Law he went on to undertake an LLM in Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law at Edinburgh, specialising in the IP implications of new technology. He subsequently trained as a barrister and was called to the Bar by Middle Temple.
Lauren Downes is a a member of the New York Bar. She was previously a Research Associate in the Energy and Natural Resources Law Institute at CCLS where her responsibilities included legal research for the Gateway carbon capture and storage (CCS) project (EU Horizon 2020). She holds an LLM in Energy and Natural Resources Law from QMUL (with Distinction) where she was a Norton Rose Fulbright scholar. Before returning to academia, Lauren spent over a decade in various in-house legal and commercial advisory roles, representing Operators in the international upstream oil and gas industry. Her experience includes negotiations in technology, exploration new ventures, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and floating LNG mega-projects.
Brian Dziminski is an Attorney in the Law Offices of John Benedict, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brian has over ten years of experience in transactional work and litigation, having successfully tried numerous cases through trial at the district court level and on appeal before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Nevada Supreme Court. Brian obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) Degree with Merit in International Business Law from Queen Mary University of London and is a certified privacy professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals in both Europe and the United States. Prior to beginning his legal career, Brian served in the United States Army during the Persian Gulf War and worked in the gaming industry.
Eduard Fosch Villaronga is a qualified Spanish lawyer. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Law, Governance and Technology at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, where he explored RegTech-modes in the responsible development and use of robotics. He holds an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate (EMJD) in Law, Science, and Technology, for research on the legal and ethical implications of the use of personal care robots. In addition to the mobility plan during his PhD programme, he has held visiting PhD positions at the Center for Education Engineering and Outreach (CEEO) at Tufts University in the United States; and the Laboratoire de Systèmes Robotiques at EPFL in Lausanne. In 2018, he was awarded the received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) fund for research on legal and regulatory aspects of healthcare robot and artificial intelligence technologies, and is presently pursuing this project at Leiden University in The Netherlands.
A qualified English solicitor and New York attorney, Dr Kuan Hon is a Director, Privacy & Information, at Fieldfisher and Guest Lecturer with Imperial College London. She has volunteered with the ICO and acted as a Fellow for the Open Data Institute and as a Consultant Lawyer for Pinsent Masons, focusing on data protection and information law. Previously, she worked in the City of London focusing on finance-related English law (particularly banking, debt capital markets and corporate insolvency) before obtaining an MSc in Computing Science with merit from Imperial College London in 2009 and then an LLM in Computer and Communications Law with merit from Queen Mary University of London in 2010.
Professor Julia Hörnle is an expert in internet law, focussing on regulatory issues, consumer protection, jurisdiction, and online dispute resolution. In addition to QMUL, she has taught at universities in China, Germany and Austria and has held a research position at Georgetown University, Washington DC. She has authored two books, one on online dispute resolution (Cross-border Internet Dispute Resolution, Cambridge University Press 2009) and one on online gambling (Cross-border Online Gambling Law & Policy Elgar 2010). She has carried out research / consultancy projects for the Chinese and UK governments and the European Commission.
Elizabeth Kennedy is a qualified Scottish Solicitor and works as a Business & Legal Affairs Counsel for Technicolor, a global technology company in the media and entertainment sector. Previously, she worked as Legal Counsel for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and for BSA - the Software Alliance. Before joining the Cloud Legal Project, she worked for a well-known commercial law firm in the UK advising on a range of contentious and non-contentious matters including Intellectual Property law and European Competition law. Elizabeth has also worked at the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) in Brussels gaining exposure to EU legal policy making. Elizabeth has also completed a stage at the Court of Justice of the European Union in the chamber of Advocate General Sharpston. She has an LLB (with First Class Honours) from the University of Glasgow, and a LLM by Research (with Distinction) from the University of Edinburgh. The topic of her LLM was cross-border violations of personality rights.
Mitchell Longan is a Lecturer of Law at Birmingham City University. He holds a J.D. from Tulane University Law School and is in the process of finishing his PhD at the University of Sussex in the field of copyright law and users’ rights. His research interests include copyright, intellectual property, art, and technology law. He has also worked as a researcher for Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Art in the field of cultural heritage law.
Alexandra was a Researcher on the Cloud Legal Project, with a particular interest in big data and IP. Before joining the CLP, Alex drafted opinions for IP mock trials as a Researcher for the Rt. Hon. Professor Sir Robin Jacob. She was a Judicial Assistant in both the EWCA (to the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Kitchin) and the Bahamian Supreme Court. Alex holds an LLB from Durham (Hatfield College), an LLM in IP law with Distinction from QMUL and obtained an Outstanding on the BPTC before qualifying and practising as Counsel and Attorney-at-Law in The Bahamas.
Guido is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Northumbria University, with a focus on Cyber Law, Intellectual Property, and EU Law. He is also an Executive Committee Member of the Society of Legal Scholars. A qualified Italian lawyer (avvocato) specialised in IP and IT Law, Guido has worked as an Assistant Professor (cultore della materia) of Civil Law and Copyright Law at the University of Palermo, visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law in Munich and external researcher at the Nexa Center for Internet & Society (Politecnico di Torino). Guido holds a PhD degree in private law (International Doctoral School in Law & Economics "Tullio Ascarelli", Rome Tre University and University of Palermo) and a Master's Degree in Law (Laurea magistrale in Giurisprudenza). He has written papers and essays on IP, IT, Privacy and Data Protection, and Robot Law.
Felicity was a Researcher on the Cloud Legal Project, conducting research on various legal aspects of cloud computing, with a particular interest in standard contracts and data protection. Felicity holds an LLB and LLM in Computer and Communications Law (with Distinction) from QMUL. Felicity is an Affiliate of the Ostrom Workshop on Data Management and Information Governance, Indiana University Bloomington, a member of the Human Rights Lawyers Association and International Association of Privacy Professionals, and prior to commencing the PhD was a Privacy Analyst at OneTrust DataGuidance.
Margarita Amaxopoulou was a Researcher on the Cloud Legal Project, where she conducted research on legal and regulatory implications of generative AI. Margarita is interested in the ethical, legal and societal aspects of new and emerging technologies and has a background in socio-legal and regulation studies. Her PhD, which she obtained from King’s College, London (KCL), explored how AI regulation processes trigger institutional changes in the UK and the EU, involving interviews with AI regulation participants. Her doctoral work was supported by the ‘Anthony Guest PhD Scholarship’, a scholarship from Onassis Foundation, and a scholarship from A.G. Leventis Foundation. Margarita was previously a summer research fellow in the Legal Priorities Project, and she has conducted research in collaboration with the UK House of Commons Library. During her PhD, she was teaching consumer protection law at KCL. She has obtained an LLM in transnational law from KCL (Distinction), with the support of a Yeoh Tiong Lay Scholarship, and an LLB from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (valedictorian).