Stephan Appt is a member of Bird & Bird's IT Commercial and Outsourcing practice group and advises national and international companies on agreements and all legal issues with regard to IT law (focussing on software licensing, services, distribution, online commerce, cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service as well as on legal issues relating to open source software and IT in the automotive sector), IT projects, technology and outsourcing transactions as well as on all regulatory issues, in particular in the field of data protection and data security. He assists clients in IT disputes before regular courts and in arbitration proceedings.

Stephan studied law at the universities of Freiburg and Lausanne and completed his legal training in Duesseldorf and Brussels. Afterwards, he received a master's degree from the University of Edinburgh and obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Freiburg with a dissertation on German copyright law.

Following his admission to the German Bar in 2004, Stephan worked at a Belgian law firm in Brussels, in the IP/IT team of a US law firm and in a boutique technology law firm in Munich prior to joining Bird & Bird in September 2010.

Stephan speaks German, English and French.