MOVERS & SHAKERS
Who‘s hiring and who‘s moving
Finnegan appoints partner as D&I lead
Finnegan has announced that partner Scott Burwell has been appointed as the firm’s partner-in-charge of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In this role, he will work closely with the firm’s chief diversity and inclusion (D&I) officer and firm leadership to recruit, retain, and promote diverse talent and to advance D&I goals in client services and external collaborations.
Burwell recently concluded his term on the firm’s management committee, and has been heavily involved in D&I initiatives within the firm through his current involvement as co-chair of the firm’s alumni committee and in the firm’s Finnegan IP University programme, as well as through his previous role as the hiring partner for Finnegan’s Washington, DC, and Reston office.
In an article for WIPR, “A catalyst for action”, he noted that “the rate of attrition among minority attorneys is disproportionately high, which then results in even greater under-representation of Black and Hispanic attorneys at the senior associate and partner levels of law firms”.
Burwell also pointed out that “clients have become a key driver in achieving law firm diversity, particularly if they insist upon greater representation of Black and Hispanic lawyers among their outside counsel”.
“D&I is an integral part of Finnegan’s culture.”
Scott Burwell, Finnegan
Commenting on his recent appointment, Burwell said: “D&I is an integral part of Finnegan’s culture and I take pride in working with the firm to establish and facilitate efforts that provide an inclusive workplace environment. This does not start or end with recruitment, but is embedded in our approach to pipeline development in science, tech, engineering and maths, recruiting, mentoring, development, advancement, retention, and innovating with our clients.”
Burwell is a first-chair litigator, focusing primarily on Hatch-Waxman litigations, and for more than 25 years, he has represented pharmaceutical companies on matters involving blockbuster drugs such as Zyprexa, Evista, Strattera, and Enbrel.
He is also listed in LMG Life Sciences as an ‘Intellectual Property: Life Sciences Star’. Since 2007, Burwell has been an adjunct professor at Howard University School of Law, teaching patent law and public policy courses.
“We are excited for Scott to take on this role,” said Finnegan’s managing partner, Erika Arner. “His contributions to the firm and diverse perspectives have been invaluable in helping to advance our D&I initiatives.”
Bristows appoints new joint managing partner
Bristows has announced that competition law expert Stephen Smith will be the new joint managing partner of the firm.
Dual-qualified in England and Belgium, Smith has 20 years’ experience advising across a broad range of EU and UK competition law matters across many sectors, including life sciences, technology and telecommunications, financial services, retail and manufacturing.
Smith joins life sciences patent litigator Liz Cohen in leading the firm.
In addition to co-heading up Bristows’ competition group, Smith has been an active member of a number of the firm’s leadership committees since joining Bristows as a partner in 2016.
Before joining Bristows, Smith worked at telecom regulator Ofcom and later established the competition and antitrust practice at RPC.
He was instrumental in opening Bristows’ first international office, in Brussels, in 2018.
Smith, who begins his term on 14 October, succeeds corporate partner Marek Petecki, who has held the position since 2016.
Petecki steps down after two terms and continues his work with clients on transactions in the life sciences and technology sectors.
“I am honoured to take over from Marek and it is a tremendous privilege to have been chosen to work with Liz in driving the firm forward with confidence.”
Steve Smith, Bristows
Joint managing partner Liz Cohen commented: “Steve and I have enjoyed working together for many years. He has a wealth of experience and brings a unique perspective of the international market.
“All of us have great confidence in his strategic thinking, strong leadership skills and sharp focus on our future success. I am looking forward to working with him to nurture the friendly, curious, brave and ambitious culture we have at Bristows, to deliver outstanding service to our clients.”
She continued: “I would like to thank Marek for his tremendous leadership and tireless energy over the past six years. Steve and I will continue to benefit from his advice and guidance over the coming weeks and months.”
Smith said: “Marek and Liz have made an extraordinary contribution to Bristows over the past few years, skilfully navigating through the unforeseen headwinds of Brexit and a global pandemic.
“I am immensely proud of how the firm, under their stewardship, dealt with the unprecedented situation, ensuring that our people were supported while continuing to provide the world-class client service for which we are known.
“Bristows has a unique culture and set of values. I am honoured to take over from Marek and it is a tremendous privilege to have been chosen to work with Liz in driving the firm forward with confidence.”
Petecki commented: “It has been a true honour and I very much look forward to working with Liz and Steve to ensure a smooth transition. I wish him the very best in his new role and I am excited by what the future holds for the firm.”
Powell Gilbert hires life sciences patent litigator
IP law firm Powell Gilbert has expanded its life sciences team with the appointment of James Bergus.
Bergus joins Powell Gilbert from the Federal Court of Australia, where he worked as an associate to the Honourable Justice Jonathan Beach.
Prior to this, Bergus was in private practice at Davies Collison Cave, an IP law firm in Australia, where he worked on a range of contentious and non-contentious IP matters, including multi-jurisdictional patent litigation.
Penny Gilbert, partner at Powell Gilbert, said: “We are thrilled to welcome James to the team, with his valuable technical knowledge in the life sciences sector and his perspective on global IP litigation.”
As well as his legal experience, Bergus brings to bear scientific and technical expertise in the life sciences, having studied biomedical science, molecular biology, forensic biology, and toxicology.
Bergus is the fourth associate hire the firm has made in the last 12 months, following the appointments of Douglas Jayatilaka in August, Adam Mackinnon in April and Theo Cooper in October.
James Bergus
“Bergus joins Powell Gilbert from the Federal Court of Australia, where he worked as an associate to the Honourable Justice Jonathan Beach.”
EIP unveils life sciences hub in Scandinavia
Patent law firm EIP has opened a new regional hub in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on the life sciences.
According to the firm, ensuring it has an on-the-ground presence in the Nordic region is a strategic move given the region’s highly intensive patenting landscape.
Denmark, Finland and Sweden are all in the top five of countries with the most post patent applications per capita, according to the European Patent Office.
The new office will focus especially on the life sciences, chemistry and digital sectors in the region.
The new Sweden office will be led by patent attorney Inga-Lill Andersson, who has a background in chemistry and biotech and joins from AWA, where she headed the chemistry team in Stockholm before taking on the role as business area manager for North Sweden.
She will be joined by Rikard Kånge, a patent attorney who specialises in polymer chemistry, surface chemistry and medtech. He joins from a position as partner at Groth & Co, where he worked for five years. Before this, he worked alongside Anderssen at AWA, focusing on clients within life science, pharma and medtech.
Ida Christensen will also join the team as she departs law firm Brann. She has worked mainly with biotech and medtech clients, but also as a patent examiner at the Swedish Patent Office responsible for the training and examination of fellow examiners.
“Myself and the rest of EIP’s new Sweden team are excited to be part of this new venture.”
Inga-Lill Andersson, EIP
EIP has hired digital expert Daniel Enetoft, who was previously CEO at a deep tech company developing artificial intelligence (AI) products and brings with him extensive experience of both private practice and working in-house. Enetoft is based in the Lund/Malmö area of Sweden where he will work, as well as working from EIP’s Stockholm office.
Commenting on this development and hires, Magnus Hallin, CEO of EIP, said: “The expansion into Sweden is fantastic news as it gives us a base in the Nordics from which to support our existing clients in the region and also welcome new clients in the future.
“This expansion shows EIP’s commitment to growth in highly innovative countries where patents are core to development. Sweden is a hub for talent, and I am delighted that EIP will now have a base in the region from which to grow.“
Also commenting on the development, Andersson said: “Myself and the rest of EIP’s new Sweden team are excited to be part of this new venture and are thrilled to be joining at such an exciting time for Swedish innovation across various sectors.
“We hope that we will contribute to EIP’s development more widely, and also look forward to expanding our horizons internationally and bringing our combined expertise to clients, both existing and new.”
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