HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS NAMED IP TEAM OF THE YEAR AT THE LAWYER AWARDS 2017

Herbert Smith Freehills has been named IP Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2017, for its work defending one of the largest-ever patent cases to be heard in the UK High Court.

The firm was named IP Team of the Year for its successful defence of Gilead Sciences, in response to patent infringement proceedings brought against it by rival pharmaceutical company, Idenix (now Merck), in a number of jurisdictions.

Partner Sebastian Moore led the team on this matter, which also included senior associates Alex Freelove and Julian Gauld, and associates Andrew Wells and Emily Bottle.

The firm was shortlisted in four other categories including: Competition Team of the Year; Infrastructure Projects Team of the Year; Law firm of the Year; and Litigation Team of the Year.

This year, over 70 judges across private practice, in-house and the Bar debated entries from a record number of law firms and winners were finally announced last night (27 June, 2017) at a ceremony at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Earlier this month, Herbert Smith Freehills was also awarded Transatlantic IP Team of the year for the team's successful work on Gilead and was also named Litigation Team of the Year for work on the disputes surrounding the collapse of the Nortel Networks group.

Mark Shillito, Global Head of IP and Head of Disputes UK & US, said: "We're on a real roll at the moment and these accolades recognise what we already know: IP and disputes are both teams right at the top of their game; many congratulations to the whole team, richly deserved."

About Herbert Smith Freehills

Operating from 26 offices across Asia Pacific, EMEA and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice. The firm provides many of the world’s most important organisations with access to market-leading dispute resolution, projects and transactional legal advice, combined with expertise in a number of global industry sectors, including Banks, Consumer products, Energy, Financial buyers, Infrastructure & Transport, Mining, Pharma & Healthcare, Real estate and TMT.  www.herbertsmithfreehills.com

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