Nick is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer who acts as in-house counsel to companies that are not yet ready to make an internal legal appointment. He also works with existing in-house legal and senior executive teams to help them take smart, risk-based decisions quickly and effectively.
Nick advises clients on contracts, policy, compliance and disputes. He also helps clients to safeguard their interests in relation to a variety of business-critical concerns such as information security, data protection and insurance.
Nick has acquired a unique blend of skills from his time as senior counsel at the specialist global risk and security consultancy, Control Risks. He advises on areas that go beyond standard legal practice, including risk management and strategy, brand and reputation, crisis management, conflicts of interest and ethical issues. Nick has helped to respond to and resolve a range of business and legal issues across geographies as diverse as the US, Colombia, the EU, Russia, Iraq, Iran and across Africa.
Prior to working in-house, he spent a decade at a major US law firm and a leading City of London firm where he specialised in capital markets, M&A and joint venture/shareholder transactions.
Nick understands that businesses need to take sensible, risk-based decisions. He looks to add value by providing legal advice that is focussed on achieving the best outcome for the client. He is always responsive and diligent in his approach to problem-solving.
Nick Allan, Group CEO
Control Risks
Expertise
- Commercial contracts
- Corporate law
- Policy and governance
- Compliance and risk management
- Brand, reputation and ethical issues
- Conflicts of interest
- Crisis management: preparedness, response and recovery
Experience
Risk Management
- Internal risk management responsibilities covering duty of care, insurance, business expansion (new offices and service lines, new hires, SOPs).
- Broad scope of risk mitigation responsibilities, including advice on RUF (rules on use of force), PIPs (post-incident procedures), MOUs with sovereign military forces and/or police authorities.
- Management of external counsel on a variety of matters from IP disputes to licence infringements, restrictive covenants, personal injury claims, local law obligations for establishment of new business (corporate, licensing, real estate, employment etc.).
- Conducted business risk reviews (legal, operational, compliance, finance, ethics, etc.) in Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa between 2016 and 2018.
Crisis Management
- Support for the business, and to individual colleagues, in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, RTIs (road traffic incidents) and other operational situations where fatalities or serious injuries were sustained or business continuity threatened.
- Supervising interviews (including protecting Control Risks interests and advising affected personnel) conducted by outside counsel concerning terrorist or kidnap incidents.
- Responding to statutory notices, demands and subpoenas issued by the SFO (e.g. section 2 of the UK’s Criminal Justice Act 1987), the DoJ, the US courts, German police or other authorities.
- Spoke on crisis management at the Association of Corporate Counsel annual conference 2016 in San Francisco.
- Articles on crisis management published in Practical Law (‘Crisis management for in-house lawyers’; ‘The in-house lawyer’s role in successful crisis management’).
Data Protection
- Advising on entry into/terms of data processing agreements; data transfer agreements; fair processing notices.
- Registration under the EU:US Privacy Shield framework.
- Preparation of data protection notices for external (e.g. websites) and internal (e.g. company policy) use.
- Responding to subject access requests.
- Preparation and delivery of business briefings on practical implications of GDPR.
- Preparation and delivery of compliance training modules on information security and data protection.
M&A, Investment and Shareholder Agreements
Other Corporate/Commercial
- Group transfer pricing arrangements – contractual (intra-group) agreement covering IP/branding, online services and consultancy services.
- Drafting memoranda/delivering briefings to group and regional executive committees, group risk committee and full board regarding high-risk contracts, proposed new lease terms, insurance corporate structures, local ownership requirements, licensing/regulatory obligations.
- Corporate policy matters covering areas such as conflicts of interest, data protection, DRAD (data retention, archiving and destruction), sanctions compliance, subcontractor and supplier vetting and management.
- Commercial partnerships, collaborations and referral arrangements with a variety of businesses spanning the insurance, medical, information security, financial analysis, logistics and litigation sectors.
- MSAs, standard terms and conditions, RFPs/tenders for tasks and projects ranging in value from £5k to £25m.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Career
Nick qualified as a solicitor in 2003. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2019, he worked at the following firms:
- Control Risks
- Cummins
- Berwin Leighton Paisner
- Dechert