About

After eight successful years in legal leadership positions at Lenovo, a Fortune 500 technology leader, Matt Barter was appointed as the first general counsel for Future Mobility Corporation (FMC) in 2016. The start-up company operates in five global locations and is rapidly pioneering the latest technological advancements in the automotive sector, with a particular focus on developing electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies. In addition to advising FMC’s leadership and operational teams regarding all aspects of its business, in his new role, Barter is establishing the company’s legal function by putting in place essential processes and focusing on strategic priorities. Essential to this process are tasks such as managing the regulatory landscape and building a robust intellectual property portfolio as engineers develop products. Barter gained industry recognition during his time as associate general counsel at Lenovo through his leadership of the multinational’s legal function in EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. He was responsible for strategic M&A deals, significant litigation and regulatory matters, and advising on key commercial relationships with Google, Intel and Microsoft. Barter was also part of the executive team leading Lenovo’s entry into smartphones in emerging markets, launching in 12 countries over 12 months and achieving targeted one million device sales. For this project, Barter’s lean in-house team became heavily involved in risk assessments, regulatory matters, intellectual property and gaining local legal knowledge of markets. Barter believes the key to success as an in-house lawyer includes: enabling business; being proactive; building strong client relationships; and forever keeping your composure. Before moving in-house Barter worked at law firms Jones Day and Howrey. He obtained his LLB from Trinity College, Dublin and LLM with distinction from Georgetown University.