Michelle is an experienced digital economy lawyer specialising in technology law, transactional IP, data protection, procurement and general commercial matters. Her practice straddles the intersection between IP, tech and regulatory, with a focus on helping clients build and launch new products in sectors with complex regulatory obligations. She has advised clients on emerging technology, such as blockchain/crypto mandates, generative AI implementation and digitalisation mandates.
Experience
Michelle led the Hong Kong TMT practice of an international law firm from 2019 until mid-2024, focussed primarily on servicing clients in the financial services, fintech and e-commerce sectors. She has led APAC regional and global mandates relating to building and launching new business models and products, technology collaborations, data protection and cyber security, regulated outsourcing (in the financial services sector), complex IT contracting and general procurement.
Michelle has also spent time as in-house counsel in both medium and large enterprises. She has direct understanding of the drivers and pain points of in-house counsel and the importance of adopting a commercial approach. Her in-house experience ranges from acting as APAC subject matter expert on cyber security products and services for a global IT services firm, to being part of a disruptive legal design team within one of the largest global banks in the world.
Michelle is dual-qualified in Victoria and Hong Kong.
Michelle's areas of expertise include:
- all aspects of technology and commercial contracting
- data protection and cyber security
- intellectual property
- fintech regulatory
- consumer regulatory.
Career highlights
Michelle's career highlights include:
- advising an Australian startup on the launch of its blockchain-based self-sovereign digital ID business (including B2C aspects, B2B value-add aspects and privacy aspects)
- becoming the go-to privacy counsel (and exclusive external privacy advisor in Hong Kong) for a major Chinese fintech and payments enterprise
- becoming the main external technology counsel for one of Hong Kong's first virtual banks, advising on a range of business-critical technology contracts from pre-launch to scale-up
- advising the venturing arm of a global bank on several startup businesses for pioneering technology platforms covering trade finance, M&A and digital banking, including leading on core platform T&Cs, customer agreements and core software development and licensing agreements
- advising a pensions platform provider on its role as a subcontractor to the lead contractor for the build of the Hong Kong Government's eMPF Platform
- acting for a global IT services consulting firm on a range of matters related to its managed security services and security consulting products, including developing templates, playbooks and house risk positions for its security product suite and acting as deal coach for front-line negotiating teams
- acting for an Australian consortium on a long-term drug candidate licensing deal with a US big pharma
- acting for an Australian casino group on a strategic electronic gaming product development joint venture
- leading the then-largest content licensing deal of an Australian publishing house with a major US technology company.