After graduating in Law from Warwick University and training in Guildford and London, Neil qualified as a solicitor in 1984. Following post qualification experience with a leading corporate firm in Newcastle upon Tyne, Neil joined Eversheds where he became a partner in 1988. He remained a partner until 2012 when he left the business to establish Brown-Gordon Consulting with Graeme Gordon.

After initial experience in real estate, commercial and corporate work Neil established the Eversheds telecommunications practice in 1990 as the UK market was liberalizing following the market reforms of the 1980’s.

Over the subsequent 20 years the practice became a market leader in the UK and internationally, and Neil became one of the most well known UK legal practitioners in the sector, being named as a leading individual in the sector – based on client interviews and recommendation - in Chambers Directory of the legal profession for a continuous period of 20 years from 1993.

Highlights of Neil’s domestic UK experience includes representing:

• 1990/2 & 2001 – British Waterways: establishment and later restructuring of Fibreway
• 1990/7 – Torch (Kcom); Bell CableMedia: UK cable & fibre rollout projects
• 1998/01 – Spectrasite: UK and European mast site JV with BG Transco
• 1995/2010 – Leading SPs Martin Dawes, Eurocall, Gamma, Yes, Project Telecom, Caudwell, and Daisy: commercial and corporate projects
• 2003/4 – O2: 3G vendor procurement & roll out in the UK, Ireland & Germany
• 2004-2005 – Airwave: UK TETRA vendor procurement and rollout

Highlights of his public sector experience include advising:

• 2006/7 – Welsh Assembly Government: structuring and implementation of the Fibrespeed project
• 2008/9 – University of Manchester: the connection via ultra high speed fibre of Jodrell Bank Observatory to other UK arrays
• 2007/10 – embc: broadband project serving 2000 schools across the East Midlands
• 2010/12 – emPSN: network and ICT services project for Midlands public services
• 2010/12 – London Legacy Development Corporation: arrangements for fixed, WiFi and mobile infrastructure required for the Games and in Legacy
• 2005/10 – 6 UK RDAs: strategic advice on rural broadband and aggregation schemes

Highlights of his international experience includes representing:

• 2000/12 – Hughes Europe: projects in Africa and Europe for this international satellite solutions provider
• 2002-2010 – Maxis: 2G swap and 3G network procurement for the leading Malaysian mobile operator
• 2006/11 – Axis: 3G network and back office procurement; and SE Asia’s first large scale domestic roaming agreement for this emerging player in the Indonesia mobile sector
• 2009/2010 – GBI: build and deployment agreements for this operator of a new subsea fibre network around the Gulf and connecting India to Europe