Matthew Arnold & Baldwin hires Edwin Coe TMT head

Joining as partner, Mercer is widely considered a specialist in sectoral and competition law regulation in the communications industry and associated commercial work.

Mercer was previously head of the TMT group at Edwin Coe. Prior to that he spent 14 years as a partner in Taylor Wessing’s IT/telecoms, competition, regulatory and public law group.

Before private practice Mercer worked as a television and telecoms regulator at the Cable Authority where he regularly dealt with regulators such as Ofcom. This allowed him to gain significant experience in cross-border telecoms services, having been involved in the construction of a number of telecoms systems in the UK, under the ocean and in orbit.

He also has expertise in the Electronic Communications Code and its workings.

Commenting on the hire, head of MAB’s commercial team Mark Weston said that Mercer’s vast experience in convergence regulation, data protection, electronic marketing, data retention and the Freedom of Information Act would enhance the firm’s focus on sector specialisation.