Direct Access Barrister
Paul Schwartfeger
Direct Access Barrister
Paul Schwartfeger
Paul regularly appears as sole counsel in the County Court and High Court and has assisted as junior counsel on appeals to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. He is particularly valued for his ability to master complex facts, identify the issues that matter and provide clear, commercially realistic advice.
Before coming to the Bar, Paul spent approximately 20 years working across Europe and the United States as a technology and business consultant. That experience gives him an unusual combination of legal, technical and commercial insight. He has an established reputation in technology and data law, is published in the field and regularly speaks on legal and regulatory developments concerning technology, artificial intelligence, privacy and digital assets.
Paul’s work often involves substantial documentary evidence, technically complex subject matter, multiple parties or cross-border issues. He is frequently instructed at an early stage to help shape the strategy and presentation of a case. Clients appreciate his rigorous analysis, practical judgement and ability to explain difficult issues clearly.
Area of Law
Banking and Financial Services
Paul advises businesses on financial services compliance, regulatory approval and the legal treatment of new products and services. His experience is particularly valuable where financial services issues overlap with technology, cryptoassets or wider commercial disputes. Paul's banking and financial services experience includes acting for a corporate claimant in litigation following the defendant’s mis-selling of a business loan and related financial products and services, and acting for claimants and defendants in actions for undisclosed commissions and unfair relationships.
Business and Corporate
Paul regularly appears as sole counsel in business, company and corporate disputes and has acted both for and against multinational corporations. Company and shareholder disputes form an important and growing part of his practice. He is instructed in disputes involving shareholders, directors, corporate control and contractual rights, the management and use of company assets and alleged misconduct in the conduct of a company’s affairs. His experience includes claims for breaches of fiduciary duty and a number of substantial conspiracy claims, including disputes involving multiple defendants and allegations of coordinated wrongdoing.
Chancery
Paul handles a variety of commercial chancery matters ranging from company disputes and corporate insolvencies to intellectual property issues, fraud and the recovery of stolen assets including cryptoassets.
Commercial
Paul has extensive experience in general commercial matters, including commercial contract disputes, construction disputes, consumer trading and unfair trading practices litigation, and intellectual property disputes. In addition to representing clients in court, Paul has a growing practice acting for clients in international arbitrations and mediations. Paul has a strong commercial acumen, having worked in industry as a technology and business consultant for some 20 years before coming to the bar.
Freedom of Information and Data Protection
Paul’s extensive data protection and privacy practice includes matters before domestic courts and tribunals involving actions for breach of data protection laws, breach of confidence and the misuse of private information. Paul's specialist technology knowledge and expertise enables him to provide targeted and pragmatic advice in data protection matters, including as concerns the processing of special category data under the GDPR, to which Paul recently secured a successful outcome for a facial recognition company following an investigation into the lawfulness of its processing of biometric data by the Information Commissioner's Office.
Information Technology and Telecommunications
Paul has more than 20 years' experience working in the Information Technology sector, first in industry then as counsel. Putting his knowledge of software development procedures and licensing rights into action, Paul advised a leading artificial intelligence firm on its litigation strategy in a substantial claim brought against its directors for breach of contract, breach of confidence, breach of fiduciary duty and infringement of copyright, and successfully negotiated an eleventh-hour settlement for a firm following a failed IT services delivery contract. Paul is regularly instructed to advise and appear as counsel in IT disputes.
Intellectual Property
Paul has a growing contentious and non-contentious intellectual property (IP) practice, having appeared as sole counsel and advised on various IP matters including drafting property transfer, assignment and licensing agreements. Paul successfully defended an infringement action brought against a social media client for an alleged breach of intellectual property rights asserted in user-generated content and has assisted numerous companies in disputes including actions for passing off.
Regulatory
Paul has substantial experience advising also on the regulatory and compliance requirements of virtual assets including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and initial coin offering (ICO) drops, as well as the law as it relates to smart contracts, blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies. His extensive industry and legal expertise in data distinguishes him when advising clients on data protection and artificial intelligence matters, including the GDPR, EU AI Act and related regulations.
What sort of work do I do?
Paul acts in a wide range of commercial disputes. His company and shareholder work includes claims concerning corporate ownership and control, shareholders’ agreements, directors’ duties, the diversion of business opportunities and the misuse of company assets. His civil fraud practice includes claims involving deceit, conspiracy, the concealment or dissipation of assets and the recovery of misappropriated property. He acts for companies, shareholders, directors and other individuals, representing both claimants and defendants.
Paul has an established technology practice, drawing on approximately 20 years’ industry experience. He advises and acts in disputes concerning the development, implementation and delivery of software and IT services, artificial intelligence, software licensing, digital platforms, confidential information and technology-enabled business models. His technical understanding enables him to analyse complex systems and development processes and to translate that analysis into effective litigation strategy.
Paul welcomes early instructions to assess evidence, identify claims, defences and remedies, develop strategy and draft pre-action correspondence, statements of case and applications, as well as to represent clients at substantive hearings.