Stafford Scott Matthews

Stafford Matthews is a technology transaction and intellectual property lawyer, as well as the managing partner of the Silicon Valley office of the global law firm, Dentons. He is the US co-chair of Dentons Global Technology Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Sector, Global co-chair of the Firm's Chemical Industries Subsector, and has been recognized by the US Legal 500 in Venture Capital and Emerging Companies and as a BTI Client Services All-Star in the field of Competition and Antitrust Law. Mr. Matthews is dual qualified as an English solicitor and a US lawyer, and has extensive experience in both European and Asian markets. He represents technology and industrial companies worldwide in complex contract negotiations; strategic development and the licensing and exploitation of intellectual property and products; litigation and arbitration of contentious contract disputes; the implementation and use of blockchain and smart contract systems; transactional antitrust and competition law matters in the US and the EU; and the negotiation of cross border alliances and joint development ventures.

Mr. Matthews has an AB in Rhetoric from the University of California at Berkeley and also holds degrees from the University of Michigan Law School and Kings College London, where he holds a postgraduate diploma in European Union Competition Law.

Mr. Matthews speaks and writes extensively on current legal issues, including the integration of law and technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart contracts. He served as the chairman of the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California in 2010 and is an adjunct lecturer in technology for the Cornell Law School Tech Centre graduate program in New York, New York. Mr. Matthews is also a recipient of the Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, awarded by the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California.