Simon Shooter

I am the Head of Country for Saudi Arabia, the Head of TMT for the Middle East, and I established the international cyber-security team back in 2010.

Before moving to live in Riyadh and establish the firm's Saudi Arabia office, I worked in our Dubai and London offices. My Arabian adventures began in 1990 when I was an external lawyer to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London and I have been engaged in commercial projects across the GCC ever since.

I am a commercial lawyer engaged in providing a full spectrum of legal support to clients for their day-to-day business. Whilst that support has a broad scope, including the buying or selling of goods and services and the outsourcing of business processes, a constant feature of my work is technology. I work in the core of Bird & Bird's sweet spot - assisting businesses to rise to the challenge of technological change. Accordingly, much of my practice today involves software, SaaS and PaaS, blockchain and, of course, AI.

I have an extremely diverse client base, from racing car engine designers and international investment banks, to world leading events companies, software businesses and healthcare operators. What brings them together is the application of practical commercial law to complex business relationships and transactions.

Over the years, I've built-up significant expertise in outsourcing in the domestic, near shore and far shore markets. I can also offer deep-level experience in complex IT transactions and IT procurement.

I began my legal career as a litigator across a whole range of commercial disputes, often with an IT flavour. This combination of contentious and non-contentious experience enables me to bring real flexibility to the table, along with a valuable perspective to both strategy and negotiation.

I am recommended by Legal 500 for my expertise in Commercial Contracts and was recently named in Business Today's Top Ten list for UK Commercial Contract Lawyers,. I also continue to be ranked as Data Expert for Data – Information Technology in WWL: Data.

• I have acted for one of the world's leading professional services organisations for over 18 years supporting them on projects as wide ranging as the establishment of a robotics club to undertake hospital back office functions to the establishment of a joint venture to bring a blockchain supported solution to the Insurance marketplace.
• I have acted extensively for NHS Foundation Trusts in colaborative contracts to export their clinicial and management expertise to other jursidictions and in particular to the Gulf States.
• I have supported on pretty much every flavour of outsource arrangement there is on a national and multi-national basis across a wide range of industry sectors.
• In cyber-security I advise clients on cyber-resilence programmes and regaultory compliance and support in the case of cyber-incidents.