Peter Kouwenberg

I am a partner and Head of the Commercial Law Department. I advise clients on a wide range of commercial contracts including agency and distribution agreements, consultancy agreements, franchise agreements and terms for the supply of goods and services. I also assist on technology and outsourcing projects, construction projects and non-contentious intellectual property matters. I am the firm’s data protection specialist and advise upon privacy policies, data subject rights and issues regarding data subject consent and legitimate business interests.

I enjoy the fact that my work covers a range of different sectors: robust terms of supply are fundamental to most businesses and I have expertise in both B2B and B2C markets. Similarly, issues such as protection of intellectual property, outsourcing of IT and lawful processing of data are important whether I am assisting a distributor of scientific equipment, a supplier of property management services or a school. My work on construction matters requires a more tailored skill set with its focus on JCT contracts, collateral warranties, consultant and subcontractor contracts.

I always pay particular attention to the overall context and structure of a client’s business as well as its legal requirements to ensure that legal documents which I produce will slot into the real commercial world in which the client operates. I appreciate that, historically, the legal profession has been criticised for drafting over-lengthy and complicated legal paperwork and I always aim to keep documents to the minimum necessary to protect the interests of the client, whilst having regard to relevant statutory and case law.

Over the years, I have worked with small business organisations regarding the issue of data protection and I have taken great pleasure in helping such organisations to become compliant with the current legislation. Often, a client may initially feel daunted or confused by what seems to be a complex and wide-reaching issue. However, I am able to break down the key requirements of data protection law in a clear, concise and (most importantly) practical manner to help the client complete its data protection legal health check and ensure that they know how to deal with customer information, subject access requests etc. going forward.

I joined Taylor Walton in 2022.