Powell Gilbert is delighted to announce the promotion of two senior associates, Bethan Hopewell and Peter Damerell, to the partnership. Their addition, effective from 1 April, brings the total number of partners to nine.
Bethan has been with Powell Gilbert since its founding in 2007, and advises clients in a variety of sectors, ranging from electronics and telecoms to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, with a focus on multi-jurisdictional intellectual property litigation. Her strong scientific background, which includes a DPhil in Molecular Biology from the University of Oxford, is of particular relevance to advising clients on complex patent disputes, pharmaceutical regulatory issues and contested SPC matters in the life sciences sector. Among her recent accolades includes being shortlisted as a rising star in the Euromoney LMG European Women in Business Law Awards in 2015.
Since joining Powell Gilbert in 2009, Peter has advised clients on a wide range of contentious IP matters including patent, trade mark, design rights and copyright disputes. He has significant experience in contributing to and coordinating multi-jurisdictional patent litigation strategies across Europe, North America and Japan, working with a diverse range of technologies including pharmaceutical and biotechnology products, medical devices, telecommunications and engineering. He is experienced in advising on contested SPC issues and is currently involved in a significant dispute over competition/FRAND licensing issues in a telecommunications dispute that comes to trial in the UK courts later this year.
We are also delighted to announce that Alex Borthwick, senior associate, has been made Of Counsel. Since joining the firm in 2008, Alex has advised clients across the full range of IP rights. He has particular expertise in contentious work in the soft IP field, acting for parties in trade mark, copyright and passing off actions before the High Court and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court, as well as advising various clients involved in disputes over software, trade names and logos and confidential information.
In addition, we have recently expanded through the hire of two new associates. Ayesha Raghib advises on European medicine regulatory law. She has a PhD in pharmacology from UCL and worked as a research scientist before moving into law. She was previously in-house counsel at an international pharmaceutical company. Ayesha’s regulatory expertise will sit alongside the firm’s patent life cycle management offering for clients in the Life Sciences sector. Dina Fahmy has also joined the firm, having trained as a solicitor at Allen & Overy. She has particular experience in patent litigation, multi-jurisdictional actions and arbitration in relation to the misuse of information.
Dr Penny Gilbert, partner, comments:
“We are delighted to welcome both Bethan and Pete to the partnership. They have proven themselves to be invaluable team members, trusted colleagues and outstanding client advisers, providing both technical expertise and first rate legal insight. It is gratifying to recognise their hard work and exceptional contributions to the success of the firm as it has grown over the past nine years.
“Equally, we are very pleased to welcome Ayesha and Dina to the Powell Gilbert team, and to announce the well-deserved appointment of Alex, who is a mainstay of our soft IP practice. Taken together, these appointments come at a very busy and exciting time for the firm, as we head towards our 10th anniversary, and the launch of the Unified Patent Court, next year.”