Partners

Carole Hailey

• Founding partner of Waterfront Solicitors LLP
• Head of Technology and Commercial Law
• Ex-Linklaters and CMG Plc
• CEDR Accredited Mediator

Having qualified at city law firm Linklaters, Carole joined CMG Plc, a FTSE 100 IT company where she was promoted after three years to Head of Legal.

Carole founded Waterfront in 2002 and her areas of expertise cover all aspects of the provision of commercial IT software and services. She has significant experience assisting companies in positions of unequal bargaining power with their customers - working extensively with clients who provide software and services to global financial services organisations.

Carole also specialises in the provision of advice on public procurement, both on the supplier and customer side and has advised on a large number of OJEU competitive dialogue procedures. Recently, Carole has advised both a government department and an international bank on enterprise wide procurement projects.

Carole's experience with strategic commercial issues equips her to provide focused, relevant legal advice that aids her clients to achieve their business goals and minimise their commercial risks.

Carole was recently cited in the Legal 500 as having an in-depth understanding of the IT industry and a loyal client following.

Matthew Harris

• Joint Head of Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution
• Ex-Herbert Smith and Norton Rose

Matthew trained at Herbert Smith and became a partner in its IP and IT department in 2000.  He joined Norton Rose in 2003 where he subsequently became the head of Intellectual Property and Information Technology dispute resolution.   He joined Waterfront Solicitors in December 2008.

Matthew undertakes a wide range of intellectual property and information technology work but specialises in IP and IT litigation, advising and acting for clients that range from SME’s, to large multi-national companies. 

He currently sits on the Law Society’s Intellectual Property Working Party.

For over 10 years Matthew was a visiting lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich.  Until recently he was a general editor of, the International Trademark Association's (INTA) Annual International Review of Trademark Jurisprudence and the chair of the INTA Amicus Sub-Committee.   He appeared for the association  before the European Court of Justice in the high profile Nokia counterfeit goods case.

Matthew is an internationally recognised expert in domain name law and practice.  He has been appointed by WIPO, Nominet and the Czech Arbitration Court to decide domain name disputes, having decided over 200 cases to date.  

Matthew’s patent expertise was recognised in the Legal 500 as long ago as 2006.  In the 2012 edition he is described as “Friendly, brilliant, direct, and able to think outside the box" and as someone who “provides the right advice on every occasion”. 

Piers Strickland

• Joint Head of Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution
• Ex-Bristows, Charles Russell and Dewey & LeBoeuf
• Solicitor-Advocate

Piers specialises in advising clients on disputes involving all forms of intellectual property law including trade marks, copyright, patents, passing off and designs.  Piers also has extensive experience in the areas of confidential information and data protection.  In addition, he regularly advises clients on more general IT disputes.

Piers services both international and UK-based clients with a broad ranging industry focus.  He is recommended by the leading global directory Legal 500 as providing both “a pragmatic approach” and “valuable advice succinctly and efficiently”.

Recent client feedback includes the following:  “you played an absolute blinder, your advice was impeccable throughout and we are very happy with outcome, please do quote us on that”.

Recent work highlights include:

• Kenwood / De’Longhi v. Ultimate Products (2011). Acting for Kenwood / De’Longhi in action to restrain use of the sign ‘Soup-a-Chef’ in infringement of Kenwood’s mark, CHEF.
• Kenwood / De’Longhi v. ESGE (2011). Acting for Kenwood / De’Longhi in ongoing appeal to General Court from OHIM Board of Appeal regarding Kenwood’s application to register trade mark KMIX in the face of ESGE’s registration BAMIX.
• Achieving a successful result in a piece of patent litigation which has important freedom of information implications.

Alison Berryman

• Head of Privacy and Digital Media

• Also specialises in Commercial Contracts and IT/Technology

• Ex-Universal Music Publishing and Macrovision

Prior to joining Waterfront Solicitors as a trainee, Alison had accumulated nearly 4 years of contracts experience, first at Universal Music Publishing and later at Macrovision (a NASDAQ listed, silicon valley technology company).  Since qualification she has worked with clients of all sizes - from individual iPhone App developers, to medium sized businesses requiring software licences, to overseas national governments requiring advice on European Data Protection Legislation.  Alison was promoted to partner in December 2008.

Alison is Waterfront’s resident Data Protection and Privacy expert, advising clients on all aspects of data protection and privacy law as well as carrying out data protection audits and providing staff training on this complex area.

Alison also specialises in drafting and negotiating a very broad variety of commercial contracts, particularly for clients in the digital media, technology, software and e-commerce and entertainment sectors. 

Alison has undertaken two secondments as part of Waterfront’s "Virtual In-House Lawyer" scheme.  The experience gained during these secondments, together with her work in-house prior to Waterfront, has led Alison to take a very pragmatic and commercial approach to most legal problems.  Many clients have commented on how useful this approach is in enabling them to make informed decisions quickly, so they can get back to the ‘real work’.

Matthew Cunningham

• Head of Corporate Law
• Ex-Hextalls and Telehouse Europe

Having qualified and worked as a solicitor at city law firm Hextalls, Matt joined Waterfront in 2007.  Matt was promoted to partner in April 2012.

He specialises in corporate law and advises on a wide range of matters, including setting up businesses, shareholders’ and LLP agreements, private equity transactions, joint ventures and business sales and acquisitions.

Matt also has expertise in drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts, including licence agreements, software development agreements, reseller and distribution agreements and franchise agreements.

Matt studied for his professional qualifications while working in the legal department at Telehouse Europe, a leading provider of co-location services to the IT and telecoms industries. He takes a practical, commercial approach to resolving legal issues.

For details of recent deals Matt has advised on please see Corporate News

Read Matt's article in the Independent: Shareholder's agreements: an expense too far?