Corporate Lawyer Ed Chapman heads to New York as RWK Goodman deepens its blockchain expertise

Ed Chapman, our Blockchain Lead, will fly to New York this week after being selected for a pioneering secondment programme which we run in partnership with Interleges. Interleges is an international legal network which we helped create in 1989.

Ed will be based in Manhattan with Anderson Kill, a corporate law firm best known for its work in insurance recovery. During his time in the US he will be working closely with attorneys and industry experts in Anderson Kill’s Blockchain and Virtual Currency sector group, focusing on the commercial use cases of blockchains (in public and private forms), along with the regulatory challenges they present.

In simple terms, a blockchain is a distributed database. To date, blockchain is best known as the technology behind the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. However, blockchain platforms are also set to transform a wide variety of industries, with real estate transactions and supply chain management as major use cases.

Ed said: “Last year we had two particular success stories in our Technology and Financial Services sector groups, receiving national coverage in relation to cryptocurrencies and drone law.

“In 2019 I want to expand on our existing cryptocurrency expertise into the underlying blockchain technology and its applications for us and our clients. In the Corporate team at RWK Goodman we already carry out significant cross-border transactional work for our clients, and I see this secondment as a chance to develop our existing capabilities as well as help serve our existing clients, particularly those that operate internationally. Blockchain has no borders and a global platform requires a global approach to be able to support and advise our clients and deal with emerging regulatory regimes.

“New York is one of the world’s leading blockchain centres. This is a golden opportunity to spearhead our continued growth and I can’t wait to get started.”