Leonard Hawkes is a practicing solicitor and of Counsel to FLINN.law in Brussels, Belgium, where he is the firm’s Data Protection Officer. He is a certified member (CIPP/E) of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Mr. Hawkes was the UK national rapporteur to the 2021 FIDE Conference, on “The New EU Data Protection Regime: Setting Global Standards,” the Hague, November 2021. He presented “Adequacy and Divergence The United Kingdom & Data Protection” at the 65th UIA Congress in Madrid in October 2021.
Originally practicing as a barrister Mr. Hawkes re-qualified as a solicitor in 1993 before becoming the Brussels Partner of a City of London firm of solicitors. He subsequently became European Counsel in Brussels & London to a major, New York headquartered, U.S. law firm.
Qualified as a European Mediator in 2016, a Commercial Mediator in 2019, Mr. Hawkes is a member of the UK Association of European Law (UKAEL), of the ‘Privacy and Rights of the Digital Person’ and the ‘Mediation and Conflict Prevention’ committees of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA).
Mr. Hawkes obtained his law degree from the University of Kent and speaks English and French. He is a registered member of the French Speaking Order of the Brussels Bar (OBFG).