Claire Milne, a partner at Appleby (Isle of Man) LLC, has been appointed as a full general member of the International Masters of Gaming Law.

Corporate & Commercial department partner Claire, the Isle of Man team leader for the Intellectual Property & Telecommunications and Technology teams at Appleby, is the first lawyer in private practice in the Isle of Man to gain a full general membership.

IMGL is the pre-eminent global gambling law networking and educational organisation, with a membership of specialists from across many sectors involved in shaping the future of gaming law, including compliance, cross border regulation, legislative affairs and taxation. It has more than 350 members in 41 countries, including 33 states and territories in the United States.

General membership is by invitation only to professionals who have distinguished themselves as having at least five years of gaming law experience, demonstrated skills or knowledge that distinguish their performance as a gaming lawyer, have a substantial gaming clientele and have participated in philanthropic, charitable or educational programmes related to the gaming industry.

Claire specialises in advising e-business and telecoms companies and also advises on data protection and outsourcing issues. From 2007 to 2012, she was Chair of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, the body that grants licences and regulates e-gaming on the Island, and is regarded internationally as a leading figure in the field.

She said: ‘Being invited to become a general member of IMGL is a great honour, and also recognition of the high quality of the work done by Appleby within the gaming industry.

‘IMGL is an international organisation which is at the forefront of gaming law, giving members the opportunity to draw on their collective experience to not only be at the cutting edge of developments in gaming law developments worldwide, but also to help shape those developments.’