Digital Law Services

With the help of various ever-evolving technologies, such as cloud, big data/AI and blockchain, organisations are initiating their digital transformation, both to grow and innovate, and to increase operational efficiency. But what exactly are the legal implications of this transformation? To get a grip and keep control of both the opportunities and challenges of the deployment of digital technology within your organisation, understanding the possible legal consequences is essential. With its Digital Law team, KPMG provides not only this insight but also thoughtful legal solutions in the Digital Age.

The legal implications of the development and use of cloud technology, big data/AI, blockchain and other digital technologies are quite often underestimated, despite being decisive for the success of a digital transformation. It is very important for organisations to know how new developments fit into old legal frameworks and what new laws and regulations apply in relation to those new developments. This legal dimension determines the opportunities as well as the risks you need to take into account and how you can create value from digitalisation, for instance by cashing in on intellectual property.

Moving to the cloud, expanding data use, entering into new partnerships and other forms of cooperation: all these changes have different legal consequences. For example, what does it mean when data is no longer physically stored with its owner? Under what conditions does an organisation have access to data resources? What does contract law look like when it comes to digital products? What EU laws and regulations relating to the EU’s Digital Single Market strategy are upcoming and which sanctions may the authorities impose hereunder? Et cetera  

Digital Law is KPMG's response to the legal challenges surrounding digital transformations. It is our strong conviction that this topic requires an integrated approach. It is very important to include the legal dimension in strategic decision-making early, from the start of the process, and completely in conjunction with all other elements: 'Digital Law by design', fully aware that issues such as regulations, contracts, trade secrets and intellectual property can be decisive in achieving the organisation's objectives around digitalisation.

Digital Law is all about both managing the risks and identifying and creating the opportunities that the legal domain offers. Each of the four units of our Digital Law offering as described below reflects these two perspectives.

L&R Strategy Management

Within this unit, we identify the applicable Legal & Regulatory landscape, not only at national but especially at EU level. The EU is very active with new laws and regulations as part of its 'Digital Single Market' agenda, producing impressive amounts of new, and sometimes very complex, regulations. We provide you with insight into the organisation's obligations under the relevant laws and regulations, translating old legal requirements into the new digital environment, and implementing new legal requirements. Any subsequent changes in that landscape can then be managed efficiently and automatically.

Strategic IP Management

The importance of Intellectual Property (IP) as a value-creating factor has increased dramatically with advances in digital technology. Without an IP strategy, organisations face significant legal and strategic risks, while missing out on opportunities because they cannot monetise their own innovations and applications. We integrally assess the impact of digital transformation on IP strategy and its management, and provide relevant insights to improve the strategy using our IP analytical tools.

Cloud/Technology & Data Contracting

In cloud-based business models, it is often not clear who is responsible for what, who has what authority, or who can exercise effective control over certain data processing. What are the rights and obligations of all parties involved in the chain? Digital Law provides insight and, based on that insight, we are then able to draft enforceable contractual agreements.

Legal Operations and Transformation services

Change is the norm in an increasingly connected and constantly evolving world. How can ‘the business’  collaborate better with the legal and compliance department, both in projects and on a day-to-day basis?

We see legal and compliance departments that are operating in an environment with increased regulation, scrutiny and pressures on costs, yet must they maintain a clear focus on providing value and a more efficient approach to legal service delivery.

Organisations are looking to their legal leaders to reduce costs, increase visibility and predictive capabilities, enhance risk and governancep rocesses and make data-driven decisions.

Our holistic approach supports you in building a legal and compliance operating model that matches the needs of the business and aligns with the organisation’s strategy.

By applying our extensive experience gained in previous projects, combined with various methodologies and tooling (such as benchmarking), we can assist in this.

The future of organisations is closely connected to the digital transformation they are currently undergoing. Our Digital Law team contributes to the success of that transformation by identifying its legal consequences, proposing ways to manage those consequences, mitigating risk and working out the opportunities associated with them. In doing so, we opt for an integrating role: we bring together the various stakeholders in the ecosystem and collectively guide them through the various legal challenges. We do this in collaboration with the three other KPMG Digital teams: the Digital Strategy Group, Digital Transformation and Digital Enablement.  

We also apply this integral perspective substantively: the insights we bring forward ultimately provide an overview of all the relevant legal consequences of digital transformation, and of how those consequences interact with the other elements of the transformation.

That is why Digital Law belongs at the heart of your digital strategy. Want to know how that can be realised? We would be happy to discuss this with you.