David M.Private profile: Upwork shows its earnings only to signed-in members, so we check it every few weeks, not daily. MRR here is a rough estimate (Upwork's six-month earnings ÷ months active). Last read Nov 5, 2026.

I am a New Zealand-qualified commercial lawyer (LLB Hons, BBus) with 10 years’ in-house legal experience, providing pragmatic, commercially focused legal support to businesses. I have worked closely with executives, sales teams, operational teams and other stakeholders to help structure transactions, negotiate agreements, manage legal risk and solve day-to-day commercial problems across a wide range of business matters. I provide practical legal advice that balances legal risk with commercial objectives. My approach is not simply to identify what could go wrong, but to help businesses understand their options, make informed decisions and get transactions completed. My core areas of work include: • Drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts • Master Services Agreements (MSAs), Statements of Work (SOWs) and SLAs • SaaS, software, technology and IT agreements • Data, API, content and intellectual property licensing • Customer, supplier, consultancy and services agreements • NDAs, confidentiality agreements and commercial terms • Contract amendments, variations, renewals and termination issues • Privacy, data use and related commercial compliance matters • Commercial disputes and negotiated resolution of contractual issues • Corporate governance, policies, procedures and legal risk management • Contract templates, precedents, playbooks and legal process improvement • Legal technology, AI-assisted legal workflows and legal operations • Employment Law & Disputes I have extensive experience working autonomously as an in-house lawyer, managing a broad range of matters and competing priorities while knowing when specialist external advice is required. A significant part of my work involves translating complex legal issues into clear, practical advice for non-lawyers. I am comfortable working directly with founders, directors, senior executives, commercial teams and operational stakeholders. I also bring substantial international commercial experience, having negotiated and managed agreements involving businesses across New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. I am particularly interested in supporting businesses that need experienced commercial legal capability on a flexible basis - whether for a particular contract, an overflow of legal work, a commercial project, or ongoing fractional in-house counsel support. Verified Client Testimonials: David is a stand out legal resource. I had the pleasure of working with David for two years at Brave New Coin collaborating on all contracts and legal agreements for our US based clients. David’s ability to manage multiple legal agreements with tight deadlines and complex client requests was impressive - increasing my productivity and overall company success. David also made sure our sales team was fully supported for every client/prospect engagement. As a colleague and friend he earned my highest recommendation. Dan Manopla – Director of Digital Asset Indices, S&P Dow Jones I have worked with David since late 2017 when he joined the team at Brave New Coin (BNC) as in-house counsel. David is responsible for drafting commercial agreements for BNC’s market data and index licencing businesses. I value his input on structure and wording of client agreements and as a sounding board for proposed deal structures and commercial terms. Even though I have a legal background myself, David’s technical knowledge and attention to detail (plus editorial skills) are great resources to have. Rory Manchee – CEO Brave New Coin I have thoroughly enjoyed working with David. He helped our business in a successful dispute resolution with a major US vendor, including negotiation, contract development, and an amicable resolution. David’s feedback and input during tense negotiations was first rate and saved our business an enormous amount of time and money. Stephen Macaskill – Founder and CEO Dasset Exchange David is an outstanding legal thinker. As with most start-ups David was asked to cover a lot in a way in terms of day-to-day activities. David covered commercial negotiation and agreements (Fintech) employment agreements, partnering agreements, and more. David is a pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend him for any role. Adam Dodds – Company Director Note: I operate exclusively as an independent corporate legal consultant. I do not provide localized court representation or formal barrister services.