Allen & Overy to open in Boston, US
Allen & Overy to open in Boston, US
As part of its expansion in the US, the UK Magic Circle firm adds a fifth office in the life sciences hub
Allen & Overy gets a highly rated five-partner team from Goodwin Procter in life sciences IP litigation, giving the firm a fifth office in Boston, US.
Goodwin's New York team is headed by Elizabeth Holland, a member of the firm's partnership committee which includes Bill James, John Bennett, Nick Mitrokostas, and Daniel Margolis.
The new hires will work from offices in New York, Washington DC and Boston. Bennett and Mitrokostas will be based in the Boston office, which will be open this quarter. Bringing its foothold to the city, one of the world's most important hubs for life sciences, A&O joins fellow UK firm Withers.
The announcement continued A&O's sustained expansion in the US, which began in March 2021 when it hired the project finance team from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to open an office in Los Angeles. A Silicon Valley launch team of eight partners from White & Case was recruited in August 2021.
Karen Seward, the global head of litigation, said that the latest hire was "a testament to A&O's prominence as a global intellectual property litigation advisor." He has also promised more "strategic investments" in the firm's litigation practice.
Her team has consistently honoured for advising life sciences companies regarding patent infringement and related litigation in recent years and Holland will lead the firm's US life science practice.
Their arrival comes after A&O hired Sapna W. Palla in August 2021 from Wiggin & Dana, where she represented life sciences, IP practitioners. As of May 2021, the firm has obtained partner, Dr. Stephan Neuhaus from Hogan Lovells in Düsseldorf.
Chambers & Partners' Multi-Jurisdictional Legal Rankings in life sciences position A&O in band four, while Hogan Lovells and Covington & Burling are ranked at the top. As a result of its international and cross-border capabilities, the Magic Circle firm was named as a band one firm in the UK guide.
Senior partner Tim House made the following remarks: "More and more of our international clients are requesting coordinated, cross-border IP protection strategies through a single firm committed to quality and clients' needs. We offer our clients comprehensive life sciences and technology litigation capabilities complemented by our recent technology litigation and antitrust lateral hires on the East and West Coasts, to ensure our clients obtain all the protection they require for IP rights in these rapidly converging industries in all the most important global jurisdictions."
Following lateral investments in London disputes in January 2022 by RPC's head of civil fraud, Andy McGregor and Norton Rose Fulbright's EMEA disputes head, Michael Godden, the US industry has paid a lot of attention to disputes.
The Boston office of Withers, meanwhile, came into being in April 2021, when it hired three patent partners from Burns & Levinson. A quartet of patent lawyers from Nutter McClennen & Fish was hired in July by US national firm Barnes & Thornburg to open an office in Boston, the firm's 20th nationwide office.
The Goodwin Company's spokesperson said the departing team wished them all the best in their new positions.
