DLA Piper appointed sole legal adviser for digital skills academy

Multinational law firm DLA Piper has been appointed as the sole legal adviser to CodeClan, Scotland’s first digital skills academy.

The Academy, developed in response to the Skills Investment Plan published by Skills Development Scotland last year, aims to help over 150 businesses by 2017 in finding talent needed to drive investment in new technologies, services and products.

It also aims to deliver more than 1,000 students into the Scottish digital talent market over the same time period.

DLA Piper’s team involves lawyers from its intellectual property & technology, corporate, real estate, and employment groups, who will advise CodeClan on matters from company formations to general legal advice.

John McKinlay, head of intellectual property & technology for DLA Piper in Scotland , said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to train up the next generation and to truly make Scotland’s digital technology offering stand out. We very much look forward to working with CodeClan on this landmark venture.”

Polly Purvis, chief executive of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the digital technologies industry, and Project Champion, added: “Scotland’s tech sector is booming and globally the digital technology is becoming increasingly important to our lives.

“It is fantastic to have DLA Piper on board as we seek to inspire the next generation of software developers.”