Mercedes Samavi

Mercedes Samavi is an associate based in the London office of Morrison & Foerster and a member of both the Technology Transactions Group and the Global Privacy Group.

Mercedes advises domestic and international clients, ranging from early-stage startups to large multi-national corporations in the technology, media and communications industries, in relation to contract law, IP, outsourcing and public procurement. In relation to privacy matters, Mercedes advises on both B2B and B2C data privacy issues, and supports clients on a wide variety of topics ranging from privacy policies and standards to multi-jurisdictional direct marketing strategies to managing individual rights requests. In addition, Mercedes has spent a significant time on client secondments, helping businesses prepare for, and meet their obligations under, the GDPR.

TTG experience includes:

• 6 month client secondment with a health care tech company that creates eCOA and eConsent solutions for leading pharmas and CROs. This included liaising with C-suite and the business on GDPR preparations; creating a suite of contractual documentations to take the company’s new eConsent offering to market; updating the company’s legal templates library; negotiating customer and supplier agreements.
• Negotiating a global outsourcing agreement regarding a multinational pharma company’s financial, reporting and accounting operations.
• Assisting one of the world’s leading technology companies on a 10-year master services agreement to provide post-trade securities processing services and related IT services to a global investment bank.
• Coordinating and project managing a multinational pharma company's review of its international electronic signatures regime.
• Advising international B2B and B2C companies that want to introduce goods, services and digital content into the UK and EU markets.
• Providing ongoing commercial and regulatory assistance to the world's largest package delivery company, and coordinating its international projects.
• Supporting the firm’s Corporate department on general IP and technology aspects within tech M&As and investment deals, for companies such as VMware, Softbank and Autodesk.

Privacy experience includes:

• Client secondment with an international energy company to help with its GDPR preparations and ongoing privacy issues.
• Helping prepare responses to regulatory investigations and enquiries under the GDPR regime.
• Preparing and presenting direct marketing training sessions and advising on EU direct marketing strategies for a client’s global marketing team.
• Advising a multi-national apartment rental agency on its data retention policies and procedures.
• Working closely with the UK’s insolvency trade body to seek clarification from the UK’s Information Commissioner Office in respect of insolvency practitioners’ data protection obligations.
• Regularly contributing to MoFo’s Global Privacy Alliance.

In addition, Mercedes is involved with the firm's extensive pro bono practice and has worked for a variety of clients, including UK and international charities, third sector organisations and social impact businesses. Her pro bono work has been recognized by Morrison & Foerster, which awarded her the 2019 Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Service.

She has also spent six months in the firm's Singapore office and six months in the Northern Virginia office.

Mercedes is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales. She is fluent in Farsi.