Michael Whitbread

Michael Whitbread is a creative employment and data privacy lawyer who brings unique experience and an original perspective to bear on advising employers. He advises across issues as diverse as cross-border equal employment opportunity, data privacy strategy, and the emerging laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence in employment.

Michael brings a solid track record of delivering solutions to challenging advisory matters. He’s handled strategies for managing employee privacy across radically different legislative frameworks. He has supported employers to prevent and address allegations of discrimination, across both highly protective and ‘light-touch’ regimes globally. Michael brings a particular talent and energy for advising employers facing new regimes where there is no established ‘playbook’, first with the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation in 2018, the EU AI Act’s enactment in 2024 and the looming Australian Privacy Act reforms.

Michael brings first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing in-house teams. He most recently served as deputy to the General Counsel of an AI resume parsing and document comparison software company, headquartered in Australia. Latterly he served as global director of data protection, as group data protection officer, and in-house employment counsel at a British FTSE250 institutional and private client services provider, covering nearly 20 sovereign jurisdictions. Earlier he was regional head of data protection and employment law for an international bank, and an employment lawyer at an offshore ‘Magic Circle’ firm.

Before coming to the U.S., Michael served as chair of the Employment and Discrimination Tribunal in a British offshore territory during a landmark period of reform to local discrimination laws. He brings direct experience of running complex employee relations investigations through to a successful outcome for the client, having served as in-house employee relations specialist at a ‘Magic Circle’ law firm in London and a household-name insurance company in Sydney, Australia.

Michael frequently appears on conference panels to discuss AI ethics and the impact of AI on working life.