Ann Bevitt

About My Work

Ann’s two key and complementary practice areas, employment and privacy, focus on helping companies manage two of their most important business assets – their employees and their data.

Ann’s employment practice covers all aspects, both contentious and noncontentious, of employment law and employment-related matters. On the noncontentious side, she focuses on counselling clients throughout the employment life cycle, from the cradle (hiring) to the grave (firing). Ann also advises clients on employment issues arising out of international reorganisations, outsourcings, insolvencies, and mergers and acquisitions. Her contentious work includes the enforcement of restrictive covenants and handling claims arising during and on termination of employment.

In her privacy practice, Ann assists clients with privacy and data security compliance and risk management, and she advises on issues such as effecting data transfers, drafting privacy policies, conducting electronic marketing, monitoring employees, dealing with eDiscovery, undertaking internal investigations (domestic and cross-border), responding to data subject requests and notifying breaches.

Ann works with clients, including multinationals, large corporations, governments and individual senior executives, from industry sectors such as technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, banking and financial services, venture capital and private equity, insurance, hotel and leisure, music, and recruitment and employment.

Ann has rights of audience in all civil courts and significant experience as an advocate. She was called to the bar in 1992 and practiced as a barrister with a focus on employment law for seven years before qualifying as a solicitor in 2000.

Ann has appeared on the BBC’s ‘World Business Report’ discussing data transfers. She also regularly writes for legal and human resources publications, including the Financial Times, City A.M., Management Today and Personnel Today. She is co-author of ‘A Guide to Hiring and Firing in Europe’ and a contributing author to ‘Employee Privacy: Guide to US and International Law, Trade Secrets, and Sale and Supply of Goods and Services’ and ‘A Practical Guide to UK and EU Data Protection Law’.

Ann leads Cooley’s UK employment practice which is ranked in The Legal 500 UK (2024). Ann also is personally ranked for her employment work in Chambers & Partners UK (2024) and for her privacy work in The Legal 500 UK (2024), and she is described as ‘very knowledgeable’ and ‘demonstrating noteworthy strengths in the life sciences and tech sectors’. Ann also is ranked as a thought leader in Who’s Who Legal (2024).

Notable Experience

  • Philochem AG Announces up to $1.35 Billion License Agreement With RayzeBio
  • Autolus Announces Strategic Collaboration With BioNTech, $350 Million Underwritten Offering
  • Moogsoft Agrees to Sell to Dell
  • Veritone Acquires Broadbean

Memberships & Qualifications

  • National Employment Lawyers Association
  • European Employment Lawyers Association
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals

Education

  • Inns of Court School of Law Bar Vocational Course (BVC), 1992
  • College of Law Continuing Professional Education (CPE), 1991
  • University of Oxford MA, 1990

Hobbies & Interests

Walking in the countryside with my family and dogs.

Specific Areas of Focus

  • Breach of Contract
  • Company Reorganisations
  • Confidentiality Agreements
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Contract Negotiations
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Sectors

  • Banks
  • Biotech
  • Financial Services
  • Government
  • High Tech
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Employment History

  • Morrison & Foerster LLP
  • Jones & Warner
  • Tanfield Chambers