Adrian Powell

Adrian Powell has extensive experience as a commercial and corporate lawyer including advising on legal issues in respect of operating in high-risk and complex jurisdictions with governments and commercial organisations. Following 11 years in the British Army serving in Gulf War 1, Bosnia and Northern Ireland with the military police he qualified as a Solicitor in 2004. After several years in general legal practice, from 2006 to 2013 he spent the majority of his time as a legal advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan and from 2013 to 2015 was the chief of staff on a significant legal project focusing on gathering evidence of war crimes in Syria.  From 2007, during his time in Iraq, he was employed as a Professor of Law and mentor providing extensive advice and training to the legal advisors at the Iraqi Ministry of Defence. He later moved to Aegis Defence Services as the Baghdad based operations lawyer. In 2010 he moved to Helmand Province, Afghanistan working under the FCDO at the Provincial Reconstruction Team, Helmand. There he was the justice advisor to the chief prosecutor of the Afghan NDS focusing on building the end-to-end prosecution capability targeting high value Taliban. In 2012 Adrian returned to Iraq as a project manager for the international negotiations project to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2013, he undertook a role as Chief of Staff to the Commission for International Justice and Accountability focusing on investigating war crimes in Syria and the activities of Daesh. In 2015 he set up Proelium Law and remains the managing partner. At Proelium Law provides clients key understanding of the legal complexities and geo-politics faced by businesses, organisations and individuals in the security, defence, technology and development sectors who are operating in UK or overseas in high risk or complex jurisdictions. Proelium Law provides extensive legal advice to the defence, security sectors and to the AI, tech, data, cyber and manufacturing industries and humanitarian sector along with a particular speciality in representation of SMU personnel. 

As well as the usual academic qualifications to be a solicitor, Adrian holds a masters degree in terrorism and political violence from St Andrews and is security cleared to a high government standard.