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Nicola McNeely

Partner, Head of Technology Sector

Why choose me

Working with entrepreneurial and innovative people in Wales and across the UK, especially in advanced manufacturing and technology businesses, is a pleasure, and I focus on working closely with clients to solve their problems and really understand how their businesses work. That understanding enables me to give succinct and pragmatic advice.

I have worked on secondment to the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, focusing on new business and intellectual property, but also for clients in a range of sectors on software outsourcing agreements, blockchain solutions and EMI schemes. Giving businesses the right legal infrastructure to enable them to develop and grow is important to me and my non-executive director role with Business in Focus, supporting Welsh businesses, has been fascinating.

Outside work, I love the arts, travelling, rugby and spending time with my young son – I grew up in Wales and I’m glad he has the chance to do so too.

Contact details

Send me a message

Teams I work with

Working with entrepreneurial and innovative people in Wales and across the UK, especially in advanced manufacturing and technology businesses, is a pleasure, and I focus on working closely with clients to solve their problems and really understand how their businesses work. That understanding enables me to give succinct and pragmatic advice.

I have worked on secondment to the Royal Mint at Llantrisant, focusing on new business and intellectual property, but also for clients in a range of sectors on software outsourcing agreements, blockchain solutions and EMI schemes. Giving businesses the right legal infrastructure to enable them to develop and grow is important to me and my non-executive director role with Business in Focus, supporting Welsh businesses, has been fascinating.

Outside work, I love the arts, travelling, rugby and spending time with my young son – I grew up in Wales and I’m glad he has the chance to do so too.

Related services and specialisms from HCR Law

Questions my clients ask me

IP rights are intangible assets which can be incredibly valuable. If you protect them in the right way, they can not only improve your asset base but they can also be a tradable asset and also a protection for your business from competitors and imitators. If you ever need to enforce them, at least you have the option available to you and sometimes you may be able to obtain litigation funding to fund your claim.

The market is emerging quickly and there are not many real-world examples of blockchain for enterprise being developed and implemented already. It will take time for the market to normalise (as is always the case with adoption of any new technology) but one of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption is interoperability of blockchains. Without this, it is very difficult to create one consensus view across an entire market or industry. The other big hurdle is legal and regulatory compliance. The regulators (including the FCA in the UK and the SEC in the US) are making positive steps to provide accurate guidance and advice to businesses so we have a framework within which businesses can now safely operate.

Every commercial contract is different as every commercial situation is different. So long as we fully understand what you are doing, the contracts can be finalised quickly, but often the discussion process raises questions, opportunities and challenges, and the parties to the contract need to finalise the commercial terms too. But we will do whatever we can to work with your timelines.

Read what my clients say about me

Appreciated for its ‘practical and cost-effective service’, as well as its ability and willingness to be engaged with the latest market trends, HCR Law has quickly gained traction since establishing an office in Cardiff in 2020.

The Legal 500 2025 TMT (Wales) IT and Telecoms

‘Hardworking’ team head Nicola McNeely is an ‘expert in a number of fields’, including blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where she is appreciated for her ability to ‘effortlessly explain the most technical of subjects and associated legal points in a straightforward and meaningful way’.

The Legal 500 2025 TMT (Wales) Intellectual Property

The ‘excellent’ team at HCR Law has deep knowledge across a range of IP subjects, and provides a strong fee-earning service, while also being appreciated for its advice on sector developments through ‘thought-provoking’ training sessions.

The Legal 500 2025 TMT (Wales) Intellectual Property

On the commercial front, many of the lawyers are able to provide additional insight as a result of in-house experience, including blockchain and fintech expert Nicola McNeely, who was previously in-house at the Royal Mint.

The Legal 500 2025 Corporate and Commercial

The ‘outstanding’ team at HCR Law continues to gain traction in the (Welsh) market since opening its doors in February 2020 and provides ‘first-class advice’ to an impressive and growing roster of owner-managed businesses, SMEs and corporates across a broad swathe of transactional and commercial contracts-related work.

The Legal 500 2025 Corporate and Commercial

Nicola has a lot of knowledge in the crypto market.

Chambers and Partners UK Guide 2024

Nicola works in an un-rivalled way, from my personal experience. She is patient, tenacious, 100% committed, always there when you need her (often at the drop of a hat) and excels in her field. I’d thoroughly recommend her!

Nick Proctor CEO of Amber Energy

I cannot recommend Nicola McNeely highly enough. I have never engaged a more professional, polished, knowledgeable and commercially astute lawyer in my career.

Legal 500 – Nicola McNeely

Nicola has a superb work ethic and is a very diligent lawyer who is very committed.

Chambers and Partners – Nicola McNeely

Awards and endorsements

Chambers 2025 – Top Ranked

Chambers 2025 – Top Ranked
Fintech Awards Wales 2023 – Best Advisory of the Year

Fintech Awards Wales 2023 – Best Advisory of the Year
Legal 500 2025 – Leading Partner

Legal 500 2025 – Leading Partner

Legal updates and thought leadership

Resource
20 June 2023 1 minute read

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