Renee Stiles

Buddle Findlay

Renee is a senior associate who specialises in advising on, drafting, and negotiating large scale and complex ICT and outsourcing contracts for both public sector and private clients. Renee is also highly experienced in e-commerce, data protection and privacy and general commercial agreements.

She has significant experience advising financial institutions on ICT systems and services, including in relation to the development of financial applications and products.

Smart Contracts – What On Earth Are They And How Should They Work?

Thursday 12:00pm - 12:30pm, ITP Conference (ITP 2 Room)

So-called "smart contracts" have got a lot of press in the last couple of years as one of the more exciting developments that may emerge from blockchain technology.

They sound, on their face, attractive. Who wouldn't potentially like to truncate the legal contracting process (or at least make it more time and cost efficient)? However, there are a number of challenges that may hinder the rapid development of these contracts.

For example:
• Are these contracts legally enforceable and against whom?
• How secure are they?
• How should disputes about their interpretation and implementation be managed and what role would the courts have in this?
• What would happen if a transaction needed to be unwound?

This presentation is about what smart contracts actually are, where gains are most likely to be made and how challenges might be managed or addressed.