Martyn is a senior commercial lawyer and former European Head of Legal with more than 20 years’ experience in private practice and in-house roles. Dual-qualified in England & Wales and Ireland, he has spent the last decade working within and leading legal functions for multinational businesses, most recently leading legal support across 23 European countries for a US-headquartered international group.
He advises businesses on commercial contracts, corporate governance, regulatory and compliance matters, disputes and the management and improvement of legal functions. Earlier in his career, Martyn worked in financial services, housing and the charitable sector, giving him experience across multinational, regulated and purpose-led organisations.
Martyn has particular expertise in helping businesses obtain better value from their legal spend and build practical, efficient legal functions. In his most recent in-house role, he reduced annual external legal expenditure from approximately $1.5 million to around $400,000 while maintaining support across a complex multi-jurisdictional business.
Alongside his legal leadership responsibilities, Martyn has held numerous statutory directorships and company secretarial responsibilities across Europe, at one stage serving as a director of 26 companies within an international group. He also has extensive experience managing cross-border legal matters and coordinating local lawyers and professional advisers across Europe.
Martyn has substantial experience in data protection, technology and the changing delivery of legal services, including previous Data Protection Officer responsibilities, GDPR implementation, cyber and data breach response, and the introduction of legal technology. He has a particular interest in the practical application of AI and regularly contributes to industry discussions and events on legal leadership, technology and legal operations. Martyn also holds an MBA, with a particular focus on legal operations and the procurement of legal services.
Outside work, Martyn lives in Shropshire with his family, plays and coaches cricket and spends rather too much of his spare time at independent music gigs.