Former Telstra legal business partner joins W+K as special counsel

Wotton + Kearney (W+K) has appointed former Telstra legal business partner and IT specialist Madga Blanch-de Wilt as a special counsel in its cyber, privacy and data security team in Melbourne.

Prior to her tenure with Telstra, Blanch-de Wilt was an in-house legal advisor for several Australian government agencies, including Airservices Australia and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. She also took on senior roles at Clayton Utz and Gilbert + Tobin.

According to the firm, her appointment is another step in the team’s trend of considerable expansion and will further boost the front-end capabilities of the cyber, privacy and data security offering.

Blanch-de Wilt specialises in cybersecurity, data, and technology law. She advises on various technology matters, such as cybersecurity, incident management, data privacy, risk advisory, software licensing, product innovation and commercialisation, digital transformation, outsourcing, and corporate governance.

She is widely known for her expertise in supporting technology commercial transactions across their lifecycle, data collection and retention processes, data protection compliance, contract and policy reviews, and cyber incident response.

“With her combination of private practice and in-house experience at Telstra and Australian government agencies, Magda knows how to tailor ‘best-fit’ legal services to mitigate the issues that keep executives awake and create the pressures in-house teams face,” W+K said.