About me
My background and experience
I am a Fractional General Counsel and former Accenture Director of Legal Services with more than 20 years of experience in commercial and technology law, AI governance, data protection, cybersecurity and digital regulation. I help high‑growth and enterprise organisations in the UK, EU and US manage regulatory risk, accelerate commercial negotiations and build confident, defensible digital operations. I have led legal strategy for portfolios exceeding £2bn in annual contract value and negotiated over 150 major technology, outsourcing, SaaS and digital services agreements worth between £20m and £250m. My approach focuses on increasing deal velocity, improving legal processes and reducing operational and regulatory exposure. As Founder of RMOK Legal, I deliver embedded Fractional GC support that provides significant efficiency gains, typically reducing external counsel spend by 55 percent and shortening contract cycles by 35 percent. I design scalable governance frameworks across AI, data, cloud and cybersecurity to enable organisations to innovate at pace while staying compliant. I am co‑author of the bestselling book AI Advantage and host of the Beyond The Fine Print podcast, where I provide practical insight on AI regulation, digital risk, in‑house leadership and legal transformation. Alongside my practice, I contribute to the profession as a Trustee of The Solicitors’ Charity, Trustee at Activity Alliance, and member of the Society for Computers and Law AI Committee, with a focus on AI governance, digital ethics and the future of in‑house legal leadership.
What I enjoy most about my work
Most of my career has been spent in rooms where things are complicated and people aren’t sure what to do next. I’ve got good at helping figure that out. I genuinely enjoy the messy stuff. Regulation, politics, technology decisions that nobody can agree on. I find it satisfying to cut through all of that and just get to the point. Somehow I also end up being the person called when a deal is stalling or a team is stuck. I don’t mind that at all. Getting things moving again is probably what I do best.
Who I am beyond my work
Outside of work I’m a father of two. Eleven and twenty-two, which is basically two different jobs with completely different skill sets. Irish by birth, London by choice, Brazilian by marriage, so the household is never short of opinions or hot sauce. I plan all the holidays. It all works out.
About my business
RMOK Legal
What my business does
Most businesses don’t need a full-time General Counsel. They need the right lawyer in their corner when it matters.
RMOK Legal was founded on that idea. We work as a fractional General Counsel with startups, founders, SMEs and larger businesses across technology, financial services and general commercial sectors, helping them cut through legal and compliance complexity so decisions get made and deals get done.
Our clients are international. The problems they bring us are rarely straightforward. But the approach always is. We look after it.
What sets my business apart
Most legal advisors give you the risk. We give you the decision.
Rory O’Keeffe founded RMOK Legal after 20 years at the sharp end of commercial law, including a decade at Accenture managing over £2bn in annual contract value, and as a Partner at an International law firm advising international clients on some of the most complex technology and regulatory mandates in Europe.
That background matters because it means clients get someone who has sat in the room with Fortune 500 boards, closed deals under real pressure, and understands that legal advice is only useful if it actually moves things forward.
No junior lawyers. No hourly rate surprises. Just senior, commercially minded counsel who gets it done. We look after it.
The problem my business solves
Most growing businesses hit the same wall. The deal is almost there, the regulation is everywhere, and the legal support they have is either too slow, too expensive, or too removed from the commercial reality to be useful.
Big law firms send a different person every time and bill by the hour. Junior in-house counsel lack the seniority to push back or make calls. And good decisions get delayed because nobody in the room has seen this before and knows what to do.
That is the problem RMOK Legal was built to solve. Senior legal counsel, available when you need it, priced for how businesses actually work, from someone who has closed the deals, navigated the regulation and sat at the board table. We look after it.
