TLT, the Bristol-headquartered national law firm, has launched a regulatory affairs consultancy service to help digital businesses prepare for – and shape – public policy and regulation.
The firm said the move created a unique industry knowledge base for mid-tier companies, putting them on a more equal footing with their larger competitors who typically provide this type of service in-house. 
It also provides a model for larger companies to obtain efficiency savings. TLT will also build tools to address common themes and issues, which will allow digital firms to anticipate and influence regulatory changes and issues concerning public policy, government affairs, regulatory affairs, regulatory finance and regulatory economics, including compliance and disputes.
The firm has hired Stuart Murray, pictured, the former director of regulatory affairs at BT Consumer, as a partner to helm the new service, which will initially be aimed at telecoms, media and broadcasting companies. A longer-term focus will be on additional regulated industries including clean energy, retail and consumer goods and financial services.
TLT partner and head of digital, James Touzel, said: “The role of law firms and lawyers is changing and we are working hard to proactively recognise the challenges they face and develop the right solutions to address those needs – using our existing resources or bringing in new skills and technologies. Stuart’s appointment and our new regulatory consultancy service is very much a part of that.”
Stuart Murray managed all aspects of BT’s regulation and compliance for its retail fixed line and calls, broadband, mobile, TV and sport businesses. Before that he was previously Openreach’s chief counsel for competition and regulatory law, dealing with multi-million pound regulatory and competition issues for the most highly regulated communications infrastructure provider in the UK.
He has 14 years’ experience as a competition and regulatory lawyer and regulatory affairs and public policy professional in the digital sector. His experience includes regulatory and competition law investigations and disputes, sectorial and market reviews, Competition Appeal Tribunal litigation, administrative appeals and European Court references, policy development and lobbying.
He said: “This is a new service for companies in highly regulated sectors like telecoms. While some enterprises have access to high quality public policy and regulatory affairs consultancy in-house, others need to look externally for a breadth of affordable professional services in order to compete. By curating this pool of specialist and complementary expertise, we are giving clients an opportunity to better influence policy makers and regulators and anticipate and commercially react to new legislation.
“TLT has a very clear understanding of how the market is changing and how it can continue to offer the best services to its clients. I am excited to be leading this new proposition.”
