Michael is the longest-serving member of chambers having joined in 1980 after reading physics at Imperial College, a secondment at Carpmaels & Ransford and a common law pupillage at 12 KBW. He served as Treasury Junior in Patent Matters from 1991 to 1996 when he took silk. He became an accredited mediator in 2003. He is recognised as an effective facilitator of positive negotiations and has conducted dozens of mediations. His dedicated mediation website can be found here. Michael sits as an arbitrator in technical commercial disputes. He joined the Nominet Expert Panel in 2008 and has decided more than 100 domain name disputes. He has been a member of the IP Inclusive Management team since its inception and chair since 2021. In 2022 he was appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board of Stichting Data Bescherming Nederland (SDBN), the Dutch Data Protection Foundation, a not for profit set up to enforce data protection rights, primarily through class actions. In 2023 he was called to the Irish Bar and appeared in his first trial in Dublin in July.
Michael has always had a wide-ranging practice covering all aspects of IP and related areas of law. He was one of the first members of the bar to develop a specialist IT practice. More recently he has practised also in privacy and data protection and has expertise in class actions in that field. He has unparalleled experience of litigation in the English Courts and other forums including the European Court of Justice, the General Court, the European Patent Office, the EUIPO, the courts of Hong Kong, Gibraltar and Ireland as well as arbitrations and domain name dispute resolution systems.
In IP Michael’s practice has covered all forms of IP and related rights. He is acknowledged as a highly effective technical advocate and is well-known for his expertise in trade marks and passing off. He has conducted many cases involving online trading and data gathering activities and has extensive knowledge of that field. His courtroom skills are renowned. He is described as having a measured and persuasive style, with his cross-examinations, particularly of technical experts, widely regarded as masterful. His clients appreciate his user friendly approach, understanding of their commercial needs and his ability to absorb and simplify complex technical issues.
His technical experience covers a huge range of fields from pharmaceuticals both synthetic and biopharma, medical devices, mobile and wired telecoms through electronics including semiconductor manufacture, automotive, construction, computer systems, shipbuilding and many others.
Michael served as Head of Chambers from 2007 to 2016 when he was succeeded by Iain Purvis.
In his spare time Michael is a keen cyclist, enjoying the Kent and North Devon hills and occasionally undertaking long distance charity rides. He runs and plays vintage hockey. He is addicted to watching F1, finding the combination of sport and technology irresistible.
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