Alan Steele Nicholson has practiced law in the Netherlands and Belgium for over 25 years, with broad experience in (the legal aspects of) national and international outsourcing, cloud computing, e-commerce, data protection/privacy and other IT projects in a variety of industries including shipping and transport, health and financial sectors. His specialties include contract negotiations and drafting for national and international outsourcing, cloud computing, and other complex ICT projects, and has been in IT and construction projects in Europe, the Middle East and the US.
Alan is also an arbitrator specialising in (international) IT-dispute resolution. He is a listed arbitrator with the Netherlands Institute of Arbitration and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London.
He recently chaired the workgroup “Innovation” for the Dutch national outsourcing organisation PON (Platform Outsourcing Nederland). The workgroup successfully completed a year-long study of best practices in stimulating innovation in outsourcing relationships, and he co-authored a book of the workgroup’s findings published in Fall 2012.
Previously Alan served as senior legal consultant at Mitopics, an ICT consultancy, where he advised on national and international outsourcing, cloud computing and other IT projects. Before that, as partner in the Rotterdam office of an international law firm, he founded and headed that firm’s ICT-law practice in Rotterdam. In addition to his ICT practice there, he also specialised in major international construction law projects, dispute resolutions and arbitrations.
He began his legal career in Washington, DC, at the international law firm Steptoe & Johnson. In the mid-‘80s he moved to the Netherlands, and within a few years became a partner in the Dutch and Belgium offices of what is now the law firm Simmons & Simmons.