How to become a Commercial Lawyer specialising in IT and IP

July 15, 2025
Collaboration and analysis by business people working in office

With technology and intellectual property playing an increasingly central role in modern business, the demand for legal professionals who understand both areas continues to grow. A career as a Commercial Lawyer specialising in IT and IP offers variety, relevance, and the opportunity to work on legal issues that shape the way businesses innovate and compete.

Here’s how to build your path into this evolving and rewarding legal specialism.

Aspiring lawyers can start early by choosing electives or research projects that focus on intellectual property, digital law, commercial contracts, or data protection. Attending webinars, following relevant cases, or participating in moots around IP and tech topics can also help sharpen your interest and boost your CV.

See our CV and interview guide.

Choose the right training contract seats

Gaining hands-on experience in the right areas is key. When selecting your seats during a training contract, aim to include:

  • Commercial or technology-focused work
  • Intellectual property or media law
  • Data privacy and regulatory exposure
  • Litigation or IP enforcement matters

If your firm doesn’t offer a dedicated IT/IP seat, try to request secondments with clients in relevant sectors like tech, fintech, fashion or telecoms.

See also ‘What does a Commercial (IT/IP) Lawyer do?’

Gain exposure to technology and innovation

To stand out in this field, it helps to understand how tech products and creative assets actually function. Read about software lifecycles, licensing models, cloud services, and brand protection strategies. Even basic familiarity with APIs, AI systems or open-source terms can give you a useful edge in interviews and early client work. Commercial Lawyers drive innovation in a number of ways – look into previous real-world examples where that has happened.

Understand the difference between in-house and private practice careers

While private practice is a great place to build broad legal and transactional skills, many Commercial Lawyers eventually move in-house for closer collaboration with business teams. Typical in-house roles include:

  • Legal Counsel – Technology & Commercial
  • IP Counsel
  • Senior Legal Counsel – Digital
  • Head of Legal – Innovation

Private practice, on the other hand, offers access to a wider client base and more complex, cross-border matters—especially in larger IP/IT teams.

Develop the skills employers are looking for

To succeed in a Commercial IT/IP role, you’ll need more than just technical legal knowledge. The most in-demand lawyers in this space also demonstrate:

  • Strong contract drafting and commercial negotiation skills
  • Confidence in advising on risk and compliance
  • Clear, pragmatic communication
  • Curiosity about new technologies and digital trends
  • A proactive, business-oriented mindset

These skills can be developed through mentoring, client exposure, and by keeping up to date with how the legal landscape is shifting.

Position yourself for future growth

The long-term outlook for Commercial IT/IP Lawyers is strong, especially in industries driven by data, content or innovation. Whether you want to become a Partner in a firm with a digital focus, or a General Counsel for a tech scale-up, there are multiple routes to success.

As the legal implications of AI, blockchain, cybersecurity and IP monetisation grow more complex, this is a career that promises constant learning—and real impact.

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