Benjamin Ross
Benjamin Ross
Benjamin Ross
UK & Europe Managing Partner
Benjamin Ross
- +44203 409 7035
- bross@blegalgroup.com
Known for being resilient and self-assured under pressure, Benjamin uses a thoughtful and independent approach to develop positive and innovative solutions to clients’ problems.
As lead counsel, working closely with IT and procurement, Benjamin takes pride in distilling the incentives of the parties in order to negotiate effectively and apply flexible commercial and contracting models in a creative way. Benjamin uses the contractual framework, together with deep understanding of the business and a close relationship with stakeholders to handle issues such as delays in delivery or budget overruns in a nuanced and pragmatic way, to continue to achieve the business objectives.
As Head of the Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice, Benjamin deals with privacy/data protection issues and cyber security matters on a daily basis, including contract remediation for GDPR and FCA compliance and best practice. Benjamin has also advised risk and compliance functions on the regulatory requirements affecting financial services organisations’ commercial deals and has partnered with information security professionals on numerous transactions.
Reinforcing his advice on compliance with the GDPR, Benjamin has obtained the Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) credential in European privacy laws and regulations. Benjamin also successfully passed the modules in the Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning from the Chartered Insurance Institute covering financial services, regulation, investment principles and risk and is a Black Duck certified legal professional.
Selected Professional Activities
Member of the Chartered Insurance Institute, UK
Member of the Society for Computers & Law, UK
Member of the Law Society, UK
External Industry Specialist in Managing Cyber Security, Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments (CISI), UK
International Association of Privacy Professionals
Employment History
Bortstein Legal Group, Partner 2016 to present
Prudential UK & Europe 2012 to 2016
Hogan Lovells (Hogan & Hartson prior to 2010) 2008 to 2012
Macfarlanes 2006 to 2008
Technology platforms
Structured and led negotiations with providers of software for policy administration, eSignatures, product illustrations, identity and access management and a customer engagement platform, for use by advisers and customers on digital platforms, both on premise and in the cloud
Advised on a flexible resource pool arrangement with a systems integrator for the purpose of implementing a multi-vendor IT infrastructure programme
Advised on the build and operation of underwriting, claims and policy administration, sales contact centre and digital design services to be performed by various providers
Structured the development of a with profits investment tax free wrapper as paper and digital propositions, utilising a hybrid waterfall and agile approach
Procurement
Undertook simultaneous negotiations with software suppliers during competitive tender processes, while evaluating their bids from a commercial and legal perspective
Led on procurement of cloud services, including developing minimum commercial, legal, privacy and information security standards
Implemented a major vendor due diligence and re-negotiation exercise following a sale of a business unit, including transitional services
Developed a risk based process for compliance and procurement professionals to draft agreements using prescribed templates, with escalation where appropriate to in-house legal counsel
Information Security & Privacy
Re-engineered the information security and business continuity standards for a major insurer
Advised on transfers of data outside the European Economic Area
About us
We are a noted leader in the areas of technology, market data, digital content, privacy, cyber-security, outsourcing, vendor contracts and corporate real estate.
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