Dean Armstrong KC

Profile

Dean is a top ranked, award-winning King’s Counsel Barrister in the United Kingdom. He has represented clients in numerous high profile cases and is a trusted advisor on a wide range of legal issues. 

Areas of Practice/Sectors

Dean has deep expertise in criminal and civil corporate responsibility, law, cyber law, Artificial Intelligence, data law including GDPR, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Key Experience 

Dean joined KaurMaxwell in 2025 as an advisor on AI, data law including GDPR, blockchain, cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

Work highlights

Frequent speaker at international conferences and in the media

This is a list of his publications and two more are scheduled for 2025 including a textbook on the legal rules surrounding Artificial Intelligence.

Cyber Security Law and Practice

Lexis Nexis: first ed. 2017; second ed. 2019

with Dan Hyde and Sam Thomas

Cyber Litigation: The Legal Principles

Bloomsbury Professional: 2021

with Fergus McCombie and Ceri Davis

Cyber Risks and Insurance: The Legal Principles

Bloomsbury Professional: 2021

with Thomas Steward and Shyam Thakerar

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: International Legal and Regulatory Challenges

Bloomsbury Professional: first ed. 2019; second ed. 2022

with Dan Hyde and Sam Thomas

Cryptocurrency in Matrimonial Finance

Bloomsbury Professional: 2022

with Marc Samuels

Career history/highlights/Previous Career History

Dean spent six years specialising in corporate finance law. He turned his attention to digital assets and cyber law before these areas had become mainstream and he has been, and continues to be, instructed in the leading cases in this field.

He is dedicated to exploring issues relating to cyber law, data protection and the significant legal challenges that these areas pose to businesses, the not-for-profit sector, and other entities. Dean is the only Silk to lead on the Commercial Bar’s response to the Law Commission on its draft on digital assets and has advised on the draft Virtual Asset Service Provider Rules.

Seen as the go-to advisor in this space, he is currently instructed in the largest matters in the crypto, data and AI area.

Qualifications / Jurisdictions

Called to the Bar in 1985. 

Gray’s Inn.

South-Eastern Circuit.

Associations / Accreditations / Memberships

Dean is registered with the Bar Standards Board.

Reported Cases 

Dean’s notable cases include:

• D’Aloia v (1) Persons Unknown (2) Binance and Others [2022] EWHC 1723 (Ch)
• Sports data rights
• Counsel to facial recognition company on personal data
• Multi-million pound divorce case involving cryptocurrency
• Securing service of legal documents by NFT – a first in England and Wales and only the second in the World
• Representing an overseas institutional client in the FTX insolvency 
• Acting on behalf of several large data protection classes in class actions 
• Advising a leading international auction house on its first NFT auction.