Millie Ecob

Millie works across the wider dispute resolution team supporting various work streams including:

Inquiry and Investigation work

Over the last five years Millie has worked as part of the team advising one of the Core Participants in the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. This work has included a wide variety of tasks including document review, preparation of witness statements and analysis of expert and witness evidence.

Millie regularly acts for the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in relation to directors' disqualification work. In the last three years, this work has involved investigating the conduct of directors of insolvent companies which have resulted in lengthy disqualification orders being made against directors under the Company Directors Disqualification Act. Most recently these investigations have focussed on the misapplication of government support schemes. Where necessary, Millie has been required to draft complex documents and supporting evidence, and as a result, has developed considerable investigative and drafting experience, as well as an understanding of public interest considerations.

Millie also has experience of acting for the Official Receiver in recovery matters involving corporate and personal insolvencies.

Millie's work often requires extensive communication with Insolvency Practitioners, directors (and/or their legal representatives), HMRC, banks, accountants, creditors and other third parties.

Data Protection, Cyber Security and Information Law

Millie has assisted with complex data subject access requests for a variety of clients including a leading house builder and international charity. These data subject access requests involved significant document review, analysis and redaction, including on the grounds of exemptions. Millie's extensive experience of data subject access requests means that she is well placed to make quick and decisive decisions as to what is and is not personal data (often a difficult area to navigate) – this saves costs and minimises risks of complaints by the data subject.

As part of the firm's appointment as Official Legal Advisers for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Millie was seconded to the Commonwealth Games Office to assist its internal legal team with information law matters, in particular with requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This involved assisting the client through the process of reviewing requests and preparing responses in compliance with the Act.

Millie has advised central government, cyber security bodies and corporates on the application and impact on the market/product development arising from cyber security legislation including the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 and the EU Cyber Resilience Act. As a result, she has in-depth knowledge of recent cyber security legislation in the UK and the EU. Specifically, her experience includes advising government bodies on the application, impact and comparability of recent cyber security legislation in the UK and in the EU. In this advice, Millie provided detailed explanations as to the obligations of duty holders under the legislation and described the practical impacts on business operations. Millie has also produced a detailed gap analysis for a manufacturer client in respect of the changes to the cyber security regime and its impact on specific products.

Millie contributed to an article relating to the cyber security regime in the UK explaining who will have to comply with new cyber security legislation and how businesses can do that.

Litigation work

Millie has also been involved in assisting clients in commercial dispute matters. Examples include advising a large automotive manufacture in respect of a breach of warranty as well as advising a pub company in respect of a claim made by a litigant in person. Throughout her time in the team, Millie has also assisted with various extensive disclosure exercises using bespoke software to review documents for relevance and privilege.