James is a Senior Associate specialising in advising clients on their strategic commercial transactions, partnerships and business models, with a particular focus on the media and entertainment, technology and life sciences sectors. His practice spans the development and commercialisation of content, technology and products, as well as advising on the consumer, digital and sector-specific regulatory issues that shape those arrangements.
James has extensive media and entertainment experience, including advising on content acquisition and distribution, production agreements, sports rights and sponsorship deals, advertising and marketing arrangements, gambling and gaming, and digital and e-commerce arrangements.
In addition to advising on key contractual relationships in these areas, James regularly advises on associated regulatory compliance, including in the context of:
- new and emerging legislation and regulation, including the Online Safety Act, the Media Act, the new UK product safety laws and developments in consumer and digital regulation; and
- new product and service launches, innovative marketing campaigns and alternative routes to market, and how these interact with existing legislative and regulatory frameworks, including broadcasting, gambling, advertising and consumer and digital regulation.
James co-authors the PLC note Overview of Broadcast Content Regulation.
James is also experienced in advising pharmaceutical and healthcare clients on strategic commercial partnerships and collaborations across the product lifecycle. His experience includes arrangements relating to the development and commercialisation of products and technology, as well as manufacturing, supply, distribution and retail. He has a particular interest in the increasing convergence of life sciences and technology, including collaborations involving AI and other emerging technologies.
James has been recognised as a Legal 500 key lawyer in film & TV, digital content & social, and advertising and marketing. Legal directories describe him as “solution-oriented, commercially savvy” and as providing “excellent advice and perspectives on the legal topic or the deal you are working on”.
James has spent time on secondment with a number of clients operating across the TMT and consumer sectors, including:
- Sky, in its content distribution, business development, and distribution and partnerships teams;
- Dentsu, in its global clients media buying team;
- Wayra, Telefónica's corporate venturing and start-up accelerator arm; and
- British American Tobacco, in its commercial operations legal team.
Experience & capabilities
Selected matters
Gaming/Gambling
- MGM on its bid for Entain, in particular on gambling regulatory aspects and coordinating this across many jurisdictions
- Tabcorp on its entry into the UK market, its SunBets operation (licensed by the UKGC) and its subsequent exit
- Sega on the launch of its first blockchain game in multiple jurisdictions including gambling regulatory advice as part of this launch
- a Chinese gaming company on its investment in a UK gaming studio as part of a Series C funding round, which involved conducting due diligence on target company assets including review of the gaming company's core gaming arrangements relating to provision of the software engine and associated systems.
- DeNA Co. Ltd on the Pokémon Masters mobile game that it developed in conjunction with Nintendo including conducting a global survey of regulations applicable mobile gaming across 12 jurisdictions
- Kambi on gambling regulatory advice in relation to numerous markets
Advertising/Sponsorship
- a number of major consumer brands on re-procurement of their global ad agency and media buying arrangements
- Bauer and News UK's Wireless on their joint venture to create Octave Audio (a new digital audio company for the UK advertising market)
- British American Tobacco on its Formula 1 partnership with McLaren and its global agency advertising arrangements with WPP
- KFC on marketing campaigns
- Reddit on advertising regulatory advice/commercial arrangements
Film/TV
- Sky on multiple matters including its carriage and distribution arrangements
- A major middle-eastern infrastructure project on film and TV production incentive arrangements and co-production arrangements
- FilmFlex Movies, movie on demand white label platform, on its white label partnerships including with Virgin Media, Eircom and TalkTalk, movie output and non-output agreements with majors and indies, advertising and technology arrangements
- Panther Media Group (OSN) on media regulatory and commercial advice (including in relation to its channel supply, production and licensing arrangements)
- STV on its networking arrangements with ITV and a range of other matters
- Chellozone on the expansion of its joint venture with CBS to create CBS branded channels from Chellozone's suite of existing channels, to be broadcast across EMEA. Including in relation to CBS's stake in the new partnership and contribution of programming and the right to use the CBS trade mark
- Moby Media Group on all aspects of its strategic partnership with Vice Media intended to bring digital news, culture and lifestyle programming across the region
Online/E-commerce
- Harrods on its e-commerce partnership with Farfetch
- Uber on a range of matters including product expansion and launches (e.g. its arrangement with Hopper)
- Lsyt on a range of regulatory advice
- a major multinational insurance broking company on its online affinity scheme insurance distribution arrangements and associated 'insurtech' platform procurement
Pharmaceutical sector
- a major manufacturer of regulated products on renegotiation of its global manufacture, supply chain and distribution arrangements for a range of new product categories
- a multinational pharmaceutical company on CMO, supply and distribution arrangements in the context of a variety of proposed acquisitions
- a major chemicals manufacturer in relation to its licensing and distribution arrangements
- a major biopharmaceutical company on the outsourcing of its global regulatory, quality assurance and pharmacovigilance services
- a major wholesaler of medicinal and pharmaceutical products on a review of master substance supply arrangements in the context of a proposed transaction
- a multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company in relation to marketing regulatory advice in respect of its products
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