Photo of Harry Small

Harry Small

Senior Consultant
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Harry Small is a Senior Consultant in the IT/Commercial Department of Baker McKenzie’s London office and handles all aspects of information technology and communications law. He acts for a broad base of information technology and communications products and service providers — assisting them in their contract negotiations and managing their disputes. He also practises in contentious intellectual property law. Harry is a fellow of the Society for Computers and Law, an honour awarded to a small group of leading IT lawyers who have made notable contributions to the field. He is the author of the standard outsourcing contract precedent in the Sweet and Maxwell Outsourcing Manual, and regularly writes and lectures on topics related to the Internet and computer networking law.

Practice Focus

Harry practises extensively in high technology disputes, both as to intellectual property — software copyright and electronic patents — and in major disputes over IT systems, breach of warranty claims and the effect of exclusion and limitation clauses in computer contracts. His most recent case was in the English Technology Court where he acted for ICL (now Fujitsu Services Ltd) in its multi-million pound system dispute with the Co-Operative Society. Harry has practised extensively in non-contentious IT law, having drafted or negotiated most types of hardware, software, telecommunications and services contracts in the course of his professional life. He has a special interest in outsourcing for major customers and suppliers both in the UK and overseas and has led major projects for both suppliers and customers. Harry has also been closely involved in the negotiation of major outsourcing and offshoring deals.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Acting for a UK financial services company in evaluating a transformational outsourcing agreement which was not performing to expectations and supervising the re-insourcing of the services.
  • Acting on behalf of a major global manufacturing and services company on the negotiation of a multijurisdictional finance and accounting package, managing a dispute which arose when the supplier failed to deliver on its obligations and renegotiating the contract with a new supplier.
  • Acting on behalf of a UK public company in a hard fought claim relating to an agreement by a supplier to provide transformational outsourcing services, eventually settled through mediation, and advising on the subsequent successful exit from the outsourcing.
  • Acting on behalf of a major UK software supplier in its dispute with a customer over electronic point of sale equipment linked to stock control and financial accounting systems.
  • Acting for a major database supplier in numerous disputes with its customers over conformance with specification and bespoke development.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Society for Computers & Law (SCL)

Admissions

  • Hong Kong (1987)
  • England & Wales~United Kingdom (1981)

Education

  • Oxford University (Oriel College) (Master of Arts) (1981)
  • College of Law at Guildford (S.F.E.) (1979)
  • Oxford University (Oriel College) (B.A.) (1978)

Languages

  • English

Previous Offices

  • Hong Kong
Harry is the author of the standard outsourcing contract precedent in the Sweet and Maxwell Outsourcing Manual. He writes and lectures regularly, particularly on the law of the Internet and of computer networking.