Robert Macpherson
Senior Associate
Brisbane
Robert.Macpherson@aar.com.au
Since joining Allens Arthur Robinson's Intellectual Property, Communications & Technology department in early 2006, Senior Associate Robert Macpherson has worked on matters ranging from merchandising arrangements for V8 Supercars Australia to acting for the Queensland Government in the multi-million dollar sale of some of Ergon Energy's and ENERGEX's energy businesses.
A lot of the work Robert does has an IT focus. One of the main challenges is to clearly understand and describe the various elements that make up computer systems and networks so that legal responsibilities can be clearly delineated. Access rights, data privacy and software copyright licensing issues frequently arise.
Robert has recently worked on a procurement project for an IT joint-venture between ENERGEX and Ergon Energy which uses shared, single systems to service two independent businesses. It involved managing complex licensing issues as well as the potential impacts of the proposed energy business sales by the joint venturers.
Robert says the role of an IPC&T lawyer is likely to attract logical thinkers who are able to distil a set of disparate facts about systems, desired outcomes, legal entities, software, databases and the like, into legal contracts that meet the client's objectives.
With an interest in music, technology and gadgets and nearly 10 years' experience working on corporate and commercial contracts in Europe, Robert says it is the marriage of experience with personal interest that makes the job rewarding.
Robert started out working in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance in London with Herbert Smith before switching tracks to experience things from the client's perspective as an in-house lawyer at Sony Electronics.
'I moved into a technology company, not by accident, but because I find technology inherently interesting - such as the way gadgets work and the way science is applied in business,' says Robert who has a Masters in Natural Sciences with a chemistry major from Cambridge University.
Robert says there is plenty of opportunity for lawyers to specialise within IPC&T. According to Robert, the field has grown enormously in the past seven years as the internet and communications revolution has accelerated. New laws regulating the new media, new means of communication and other new technologies are opening up new work opportunities for IPC&T lawyers. For example, Allens has recently added 'podcasting' to the list of recognised expertise areas that are represented within its IPC&T department.
Robert sums up the experience of working for Allens as, 'relaxed, yet at the same time quite earnestly and seriously business-minded'.
His advice to lawyers aspiring to work in IPC&T is to enter with an open mind, obtain broad experience, then seek to specialise in an area of personal interest - be it bio-science, broadcasting, telecoms, e-commerce or IT.
'Eventually you do have to specialise. Once you've experienced the variety that's out there, my advice is to find a niche that interests you and seek to become an expert in it,' says Robert.
