# Rich Folsom

Part technology lawyer, part legal technologist. I build technology to improve legal services, and provide legal services for technology, data and regulated environments.

rich@fo.ls · https://fo.ls · London

## Experience

### Partner, Simmons & Simmons LLP (2024–present)

Data in the AI era: data licensing, AI training rights, and the commercial and regulatory plumbing where data meets compute.
- Built and shipped STRIDE, the firm's real-time digital regulation tracker — in-house teams use it instead of a quarterly PDF round-up. (https://stride.simmons-simmons.com)

### Partner, Deloitte LLP (2021–2024)

Commercial technology partner in Deloitte Legal — cloud, big data and AI advice for businesses whose product is mostly data.
- Led Deloitte's responses to major tech-policy consultations, including the Law Commission's digital assets paper. (https://cdn.websitebuilder.service.justice.gov.uk/uploads/sites/54/2025/12/Digital-assets-collated-consultation-responses.pdf#page=446)
- Hired, trained and ran a team of lawyers in these sectors.
- Product-owned the practice's SaaS tools: data-rights management and open-source permissioning.

### Associate, later Partner, Kemp Little LLP (2010–2021)

Helping clients buy and sell software, data and services at a tech boutique — mostly new tech and regulated industries.
- Helped build the practice into Band 1 for technology law.
- Built and ran Four Corners Intelligence — a contract-portfolio analysis product that won an FT Innovative Lawyers award and later followed the practice into Deloitte. (https://web.archive.org/web/20191206031301/https://www.kl-legal.tech/4corners)

### Founder & CEO, Kemp Little Technology Limited (2017–2021)

The company behind the firm's legal-tech products — sold to Deloitte alongside the firm itself.

### Trainee Solicitor, Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP (2008–2010)

Training contract. Admitted as a solicitor in 2010.

## Appointments

- Visiting Professor, The City Law School, City St George's, University of London (2025–present)
- Member, LegalTech Board, Society for Computers and Law (2026–present)

## Education

- MA Natural Sciences (II.i), Queens' College, University of Cambridge (2002–2005)
- LLB Law (Commendation), Nottingham Law School (2005–2007)
- Admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, 2010

## Awards

- Innovation in the business of law: Technology, FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2019 — for Four Corners Intelligence

## Expertise

Technology law · Legal technology · Data licensing · AI regulation · Contract automation · Open data

## Things I have shipped

- [STRIDE](https://stride.simmons-simmons.com) — Real-time tracker of digital regulation across jurisdictions — AI, data, platforms, cyber, crypto.
- [Four Corners Intelligence](https://web.archive.org/web/20191206031301/https://www.kl-legal.tech/4corners) — Contract-portfolio analysis — every important clause of every contract, organised and instantly reportable. Won an FT Innovative Lawyers award in 2019.
- [AI Collider](https://aicollider.org) — Compare AI stances — corporate, regulatory, technical — as colour-coded grids across 72 dimensions.
- [AI Contract.ing](https://www.aicontract.ing) — Turned SCL's 60-page PDF of EU AI Act clauses into a filterable site with swappable defined terms and drafting options.
- [Magic Story Club](https://magicstory.club) — AI bedtime stories, personalised to the child you describe.
- [Operation GoGoGo](https://operationgogogo.com) — Kitchen-TV dashboard that gets three kids out the door — RAG status and a countdown to departure.
- [LessIsMortgage](https://lessismortgage.com) — Side-by-side mortgage scenarios — fixed vs tracker, terms, overpayment strategies — with the full financial picture.
- [GoodKnight](https://goodknight.app) — Over-the-board chess for Kindle, with Stockfish pointing out pins, forks and skewers mid-game.

## Interests

Running, cycling and skiing since 1987; lifting since 1997. Water polo and rugby, 1995–2015. I taught skiing, back when I was fun.

More at https://fo.ls/shipping/ · If versions differ, the summary at https://fo.ls/cv/ prevails.

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Signed ssh-ed25519 SHA256:fOFFWjg8DJLjDwQ65hnbbHjWkoSAySHGGnteJuZsHG4 — verify https://fo.ls/cv.ts against https://fo.ls/cv.ts.sig with https://fo.ls/cv.pub · Source commit be69678 · 2026-08-08T11:15:34+01:00