Cathy Clark

Before joining Nelsons, she held senior positions including Head of Compliance and Senior Legal Counsel for global technology and data‑driven organisations, overseeing complex international contracting, compliance frameworks, and strategic commercial support. Earlier in her career, Cathy also spent many years in private practice at another leading firm of solicitors.

Her in‑house career spans major international businesses across the software, financial services, credit reference, and data analytics sectors. Cathy has extensive experience in commercial work, including drafting, negotiating, and advising on a wide range of commercial and technology contracts, including software licensing agreements, SaaS solutions, outsourcing, professional services, subcontracting, joint ventures, master services and framework agreements, terms of business, confidentiality agreements, variations, and high‑value tenders. With a broad range of experience advising different industries, including retail, technology, e-commerce, and other commercial sectors, Cathy supports clients with a full spectrum of commercial contracting needs.

Cathy regularly advises on the commercial implications of operating data-rich business models and provides commercially driven guidance on integrating data protection, ethics, anti‑bribery and corruption, modern slavery, data sharing, and international data transfers into contracting frameworks and wider business operations. Her work includes redesigning company‑wide policies and providing day‑to‑day strategic guidance on commercial risk, regulatory obligations, and operational decision‑making.

With more than 12 years of her qualified career working in‑house, Cathy brings a practical understanding of how businesses operate. This experience enables her to appreciate commercial pressures, internal processes, and organisational priorities in a way that goes beyond the traditional private practice perspective. Clients value her ability to deliver advice that is not only legally robust but aligned with real‑world business needs and the way companies function.