Information Technology and Communications

The Information Technology and Communications (ITC) sector of law provides a number of unique challenges, as it keeps pace with an industry that changes by the day. Kwok Yew Chen from Wong & Partners elaborates.

ITC lawyers aim to provide end-to-end legal services to clients from the ITC industry. They have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of each branch of the ITC industry's requirements, standards and needs. They also strive to provide practical, sound and commercially sensible advice tailored to each client.

The work

The type of the work includes advising clients on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues pertaining to the industry, such as regulatory issues under the Communications and Multimedia Act. Advice can be on a broad range of issues including the structuring of deals; acquisition and establishment of end-to-end telecommunication networks; purchase of hardware and software; and licensing issues.

The scope of work involves drafting contracts; structuring transactions; and researching and advising on legal and regulatory issues on a broad range of related matters. These include land law, intellectual property rights, contract law, licensing requirements of the various authorities and being up-to-date on international and industry standards and requirements. Depending on the client's requirements, hours may be long where, for example, there is a large acquisition with multiple parties and tight deadlines, or where there is transactional work. Advisory work can also entail long hours depending on the complexity of the advice required. However, the length of time spent attending to billable work depends in large part on the number of active matters that an associate may be involved in at any given time. It is usually possible to spread the work, given the size of the firm.

Lawyers will need a detailed knowledge of mainly information technology, telecommunications, copyright, land law, and contract law.

Clients include some of the leading global multinationals engaged in the ITC sector. These will be handled by the biggest firms, while the smaller niche firms will also focus on specific ITC work.

The skills

ITC literacy is of a great assistance in this area, as there are a lot of technical and regulatory issues to be aware of when advising clients and drafting contracts. However, such knowledge may be acquired over time. What is critical is the ability to juggle the contractual, commercial, industry norms and regulatory issues relevant to the contract or advice at hand. You do not necessarily need any specific qualifications to enter ITC law but any subject related to technology and/or communications law would be helpful.

Some words of advice

New lawyers will handle a combination of research, contract drafting and advising clients on a broad range of issues from structuring deals to regulatory aspects in the industry. As mentioned previously, you don't have to have a formal background in ITC. However, graduates who have an interest in information technology (eg application systems, computer programme, software licensing) or communications (eg IPTV, high-speed broadband, 3G, WiMAX and other technology) would find this an interesting area of law to practice.

About the author

Kwok Yew Chen is an Associate with Wong & Partners and has been with the firm for four years, working in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions and IT/C.

© GTI Specialist Publishers. Reproduced with permission.