Timothy B. Higginson
About
Timothy B. Higginson is the Partner & Chair of the Artificial Intelligence & Technology Transactions Practice at Omnus Law. With over 20 years of legal experience, he combines deep expertise in technology transactions, AI implementation, and strategic counsel for B2B technology firms ranging from Seed stage to Series D. Timothy’s distinguished career includes leadership roles in major SaaS and technology start-ups, where he established legal frameworks and optimized contracting processes to accelerate deal closures and improve compliance across global markets.
Timothy is renowned for his innovative approach to legal operations, having implemented advanced AI-based contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems and generative AI playbooks that enhance contract negotiation and streamline document management. His expertise spans intellectual property, data privacy (including GDPR and CCPA compliance), and regulatory risk management, making him a trusted advisor for tech companies navigating complex legal landscapes.
In his role as fractional General Counsel, Timothy provides strategic legal guidance to executive teams, aligning business objectives with robust legal structures. He advises on AI integration for legal teams, develops negotiation playbooks, and supports in-house legal operations with data-driven decision-making. Timothy’s collaborative approach ensures cross-departmental alignment with product, finance, IT, and sales, enhancing legal processes and supporting efficient go-to-market strategies. His commitment to innovation and excellence positions him as a leading authority in AI-driven legal solutions and technology transactions.
Career Highlights
- Created and scaled the in-house legal team at global B2B SaaS company.
- Managed data-driven improvements to sales teams contracting processes and legal terms with a focus on fast time-to-close complex customer contracts.
- Led AI-driven contract lifecycle management at Bitrise, achieving streamlined contract processing..
- Closed $60 million Series C funding and facilitated key acquisitions.
- Achieved top NPS scores through legal operations, cross-departmental training, and optimized workflows.
Project Specific Work
We represent clients on a wide range of specific matters related to technology commercial transactions, including, for example:
- revenue-generating transactions and deal structures
- speed-to-close deals analysis and optimization
- website legal (terms of service, privacy policies, AUPs, etc)
- master services agreements
- vendor/supplier agreements
- multi-party agreements
- licensing, professional services and development agreements
- reseller and strategic partner agreements
- global IP strategy and IP audits
- legal document templates and negotiation playbooks
- intra-company licensing, data transfers and transfer pricing
- AI guidelines for engineering and marketing teams
Fractional General Counsel Services
We also act as external, fractional and interim general counsel/chief legal officer for B2B tech start-ups (Seed to Series D). This can be for any of the specific project areas mentioned above, and also for the management and optimization of:
- legal and strategic advice to C-Suite
- alignment of business model and go-to-market strategy with customer contracts
- AI legal training for company teams
- legal team use of AI
- in-house legal team, operations and structure
- in-house technology stack, including AI, contract life cycle management, legal ticketing, negotiation playbooks, contract template development and management, legal knowledge repositories
- AI legal training for company teams
- legal team use of AI
- data collection and analysis for legal KPIs and SLAs
- outside counsel, including for venture financings and M&A
- legal budget
Practice Areas
Industries
Admitted Jurisdictions
- District of Columbia (D.C.)
- Illinois
Education
- Juris Doctor (JD), University of Chicago Law School
- Bachelor of Arts (AB), Harvard University
Languages
- English
I had the pleasure of working with Tim for five years, as he was the vice president of legal at Bitrise and I was an outside counsel to the company. Tim is an exceptional lawyer and a strategic leader, who has a deep understanding of the legal and business aspects of the software industry. Tim always impressed me with his ability to prioritize the most important and urgent matters, and to delegate tasks effectively to his team. He is a creative problem solver, who can find innovative solutions to complex challenges. He built a great legal team at Bitrise, and fostered a collaborative and supportive culture among his colleagues. He also resolved issues in a very effective way, by negotiating with clients, partners, and regulators with professionalism and integrity.
I have had the privilege of working with Tim for a number of years. He is a first-class General Counsel, lawyer and person. Tim is a highly knowledgeable and experienced tech and commercial lawyer, and adopts a pragmatic, commercial approach. He is extremely collaborative and superb at developing company processes and procedures. Tim is an absolute joy to work with and I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.
I was very fortunate to have Tim as my direct manager at Bitrise for almost 2 years. Tim was hands down one of the best managers I have ever had. He was able to find that perfect balance of support, guidance, and independence that let me thrive. Some of my best memories at Bitrise were the brainstorming sessions Tim and I had where we would both bring different ideas and build upon what the other had added. I knew that Tim valued my opinion and alternate viewpoints and ideas were encouraged. I learned so much from Tim during my time at Bitrise. As the VP of Legal, Tim was a visionary and was always looking to see how the legal team could improve. Examples of this include making legal operations one of his first team hires as well as exploring use cases for leveraging generative AI. This constant reevaluation and openness to new ideas was such a rewarding challenge to me.
I worked with Tim during his time as VP of Legal at Bitrise. As head of legal for the company Tim always took an approach that was both protective and which managed to achieve the results that the business teams wanted. Tim is a creative thinker who manages to find a solution to every problem posed to him. I always looked to him as a knowledgeable expert on many legal topics, who tries to keep ahead of the curve particularly in using emerging technologies. As a manager, I found Tim to be very fair and a very helpful leader. He is incredibly approachable and I always knew that if I hit a roadblock in something I was working on, I could turn to Tim to help me get past it. I am very happy to have had the privilege to work with such an exceptional legal professional and such a good person.
I worked with Tim for several years whilst he was VP of Legal at Bitrise. As a client, he was extremely easy to deal with, great at managing a high-number of workstreams, and knew exactly how to make the most of his external advisors. I was particularly impressed by the way in which Tim ran the legal department, especially the integration of tech solutions (where he was ahead of my other clients).