Nick is a versatile corporate and commercial lawyer, with a practice focused on three principal areas: commercial and corporate advice; risk and crisis management strategies; governance and compliance frameworks. He also acts as in-house counsel to companies that are not yet ready to make an internal legal appointment.
Nick acquired a unique blend of skills from his time as senior counsel at the specialist global risk and security consultancy, Control Risks. He has built on this, advising on a wide range of issues since he joined Keystone. He helps his clients take smart, risk-based decisions quickly and effectively. He has helped to respond to and resolve numerous business and legal issues in jurisdictions as diverse as the US, Colombia, the EU, Russia, Iraq, Iran and across Africa.
Prior to working in-house, Nick 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 and corporate advisory
- Risk management and security: risk maturity/risk assessment, risk reviews, legal and operational risk mitigation procedures and programmes, business and organisational resilience
- Crisis management: preparedness, response and recovery
- Compliance, governance, ethics and reputation: policies, procedures and standards including data protection/GDPR, anti-bribery and anti-corruption (ABC/ABAC), suppliers and subcontractors, ethical standards, defamation, and conflicts of interest
Experience
Commercial Contracts and Corporate Advisory
- MSAs and framework contracts for a broad range of professional consulting/security/risk management services and covering multi-year service periods
- Drawdown contracts such as statements of work (SoWs), task orders (TOs), call off agreements
- Standard terms and conditions of business
- Playbook for standard terms and conditions/commercial contract negotiations; contractual/operational gap and risk analysis (risk and flex)
- Supplier/subcontractor agreements and arrangements
- Preliminary agreements, including: confidentiality agreements/NDAs/CDAs; memorandums of understanding/heads of terms/heads of agreement (MoUs/HoTs)
- Specialist contracts relating to the provision of maritime security services (both armed and unarmed); mobile and static security (armed and unarmed); relationships with sovereign military and police security forces
- Responding to RFIs/RFPs/ITTs and tenders for tasks and projects ranging in value from £5k to £25m; preparing written submissions, explanations of services, and summaries of policies, procedures and SOPs; marking up client/customer contracts and negotiating changes
- Commercial partnerships, collaborations and referral arrangements with a variety of businesses spanning the insurance, medical, information security (InfoSec), financial analysis, logistics and litigation sectors
- Corporate policy matters covering areas such as conflicts of interest, data protection, DRAD (data retention and deletion, archiving and destruction), sanctions compliance, subcontractor and supplier vetting and management
- 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 growth and strategy
- Legal issues/operational risks: triage and prioritisation
- Group transfer pricing arrangements – contractual (intra-group) agreement covering IP/branding, online services and consultancy services
- Private company M&A and shareholder arrangements, especially acting for and in relation to company founders and for owner-operated businesses
Risk Management and Security
- Internal risk management: supervising and/or discharging responsibilities for satisfying a duty of care towards personnel operating overseas and in hostile environments; supervision and negotiation of insurance programmes and portfolios; advising on business expansion, including opening new offices, expanding into new jurisdictions across Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and MENA , creation of new service lines, making new hires; drafting standard operating procedures (SOPs) for new/modified business operations
- Broad experience of risk mitigation in the security sector, including advice on RUF (rules on use of force), PIPs (post-incident procedures), MOUs with sovereign military forces and/or police authorities
- Deep insight acquired while advising on compliance, procedures, and risk-based approaches within the business intelligence, investigations and due diligence sector
- Implementing risk assessments and risk management frameworks for operations in MENA and sub-Saharan Africa
- On-site business risk reviews (legal, operational, compliance, finance, ethics, etc.) in Europe, Russia, and Africa
- Due diligence into business partners, contractors, suppliers and associates
- Supervision 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.)
Crisis Management
- Supporting businesses and individuals in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, RTIs (road traffic incidents) and other operational situations where fatalities or serious injuries were sustained or business continuity was threatened
- Supervising interviews (including protecting the interests of the business and advising affected personnel) conducted by outside counsel concerning terrorist or kidnap incidents
- Responding to statutory notices, demands and subpoenas issued by the SFO, the DoJ, the US courts, German police or other authorities
- Speaking and writing on crisis management from a lawyer’s perspective (the Association of Corporate Counsel annual conference; Practical Law Practice Note and articles; interviews)
- Development of new content (including guidance and checklists) for Practical Law relating to business continuity and stress testing of business continuity plans
Compliance and Governance
- Advising on governance frameworks and the interaction between various policies, procedures and controls, such as board composition, non-executive/independent directors, nomination/remuneration/audit committees, risk committee, and the effective utilisation of general counsel, internal risk management roles, internal audit function etc.
- Developing a new chapter relating to private company corporate governance for Practical Commercial Precedents (covering (1) legal, ethical and compliance matters, and (2) operational checks and balances for the directors and senior executives)
Ethics and Reputation
- Creating and advising on the adoption of codes of ethics/codes and standards of conduct, ethical risk and standards of integrity
- Creating and advising in relation to safeguarding policies
Data Protection Training and Compliance
- Advising on 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 data subject access requests (SARs/DSARs)
- Preparation and delivery of business briefings on practical implications of GDPR
- Preparation and delivery of compliance training modules on information security (InfoSec) and data protection
Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption (ABC/ABAC)
- Creating and advising on anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies
- Creating and advising on supplier and subcontractor policies and on the associated identification, vetting selection and management procedures
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