Expansion at Cordery continues with Gayle McFarlane joining the firm as Partner. An experienced lawyer with a keen interest in technology, McFarlane brings with her an excellent track record across the compliance landscape; especially in areas related to data protection and security, freedom of information and digital. McFarlane joins Cordery from international commercial law firm, Wragge Lawrence Graham Co LLP, where she was Director in the Commercial and Projects practice group.

“Gayle’s knowledge of the compliance landscape, extensive experience in dealing with these and related matters, especially on behalf of consumer businesses – combined with her natural interest in all things technology and digital – makes her a great addition to the Cordery team,” Jonathan Armstrong, Partner at Cordery, said. “For our clients, many of whom are household names, embedding compliance into their day-to-day operations is a high business priority. Their compliance challenge is growing driven by the increasing intricacy of legislation and the emerging risks that cyber security, the internet and use of open source software in business present.”

With over 15 years’ experience, there are very few aspects of the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act that McFarlane hasn’t advised on. She was a contributing author to the Law Society’s Data Protection Handbook in 2008. McFarlane has successfully helped clients to develop compliant solutions that allow organisations to exploit data for competitive advantage while safely adhering to the various legislations. She regularly advises consumer brands on complying with the UK consumer law regime, including how to consolidate good practice across different channels and structures such as online marketplaces. Well-recognised for her enthusiastic and animated style, McFarlane is also highly rated as a commercial trainer on topics including e-commerce, data protection compliance and tricky procurement issues such as agile software development. She started her legal career at Eversheds LLP as a Trainee in 1999.

McFarlane commented, “Technology presents huge business advantages that no organisation can ignore, but its side effects (including cyber security threats, data and privacy breaches, and most importantly keeping your cutting edge business model within the scope of slightly more archaic, but still applicable, legislation) are undoubtedly challenging. The innovative use of tech both in and for business genuinely interests me and I’m excited to be working with clients at Cordery to help them devise solutions that will enable them to benefit from these developments while protecting their businesses by making compliance a routine part of their operation.”