Osborne Clarke LLP remains at the forefront of AI legal services, continuing to advise global AI developers and high-end users on cutting-edge regulatory, governance, and commercial issues. The group is led by John Buyers, a recognised authority on AI law who brings both academic and practical insight into complex areas such as agentic AI, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and enterprise-level AI governance frameworks. Former co-chair Tamara Quinn has moved internally to serve as the firm’s AI Knowledge Director. Emily Tombs’ client base ranges from major model developers to innovative start-ups and global professional services providers.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Deep understanding of technology, and ability to engage in comprehensive discussion on the applicability of regulation to technological solutions.’
- ‘Highly responsive, very good services, deep understanding of technology and ability to translate regulation to tech professionals.'
- ‘I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Katherine Douse (Director) and John Buyers (Partner), and I truly value their support as trusted outside counsel. They consistently demonstrate exceptional work ethic, attention to detail, and a clear commitment to delivering high-quality work.'
- ‘We have had good support from the team at Osborne Clarke across the multitude of areas that feed into AI advice, including data protection and intellectual property.’
- ‘John Buyers is an expert in the field of artificial intelligence. He has written a leading test on AI dating back to 2018. His deep understanding of the technology and his long-standing experience in this area allows him to offer insightful legal advice.’
- ‘Team is knowledgeable, practical, and responsive.’
Key clients
- Merlyn Mind
- Fetcherr
- PwC LLP
Work highlights
Supporting Merlyn Mind with its Emergence Platform, an agentic AI workflow system, which routes requests to first and third party generative AI models.
Supporting Fetcherr to understand the potential regulatory implications arising from its AI-powered pricing and inventory control engine from a UK and harmonised EU law perspective.
Supported PwC on its generative AI policy, in particular providing advice to the firm on intellectual property and AI issues surrounding generative AI prompts (inputs) AI generated outputs.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Tamara Quinn
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Emily Tombs
Practice head
John Buyers
Other key lawyers
Katie Vickery; Katherine Douse; Emily Tombs; Thomas Stables