Michael trained and qualified as a solicitor with Towerhouse after joining the firm in September 2013. Prior to that, he spent four years working in the telecommunications sector as an in-house legal and regulatory advisor to a group of communications providers.
Much of Michael’s work is focused on commercial contracts and regulatory compliance.
Over the past few years, Michael’s work has included:
- Drafting and advising on suites of template standard terms and addenda for a number of communications providers for the sale of communications and IT services;
- Drafting and advising on reseller agreements, wholesale telecoms service agreements, MVNO agreements, hardware installation contracts and a wide variety of other service agreements;
- Acting for two different consortiums of clients in the negotiation of the dark fibre reference offer between Openreach and industry (2016), and the reference offer for physical infrastructure access (2018 – present);
- Acting for a client who was subject to an investigation by the regulator of premium-rate services;
- Assisting with regulatory proceedings concerning matters subject to the jurisdiction of Ofcom, litigation at the Competition Commission and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, and judicial review proceedings at the Administrative Court;
- Advising clients in respect of code powers under the Electronic Communications Code, including applications to Ofcom and issues concerning funds for liabilities;
- Assisting in the creation of a ‘regulatory handbook’ for use by operational staff at a major energy provider to help team members understand their regulatory obligations;
- Negotiating wayleave agreements for the installation of electronic communications apparatus on private land;
- Giving advice on and helping to resolve various commercial and contractual disputes; and
- Advising stakeholders on consultations and proposed legislative reform published by Ofcom and the Law Commission.
Michael studied at the University of Bristol and, as an undergraduate, he spent a year studying abroad in Umeå, Sweden.