Olswang has raided Kilpatrick Stockton for a five-strong intellectual property (IP) team led by high-profile department head Helen Newman.
Newman, Kilpatrick’s head of international IP, will join the City outfit with a team of three senior associates and one trademark attorney on Monday (2 July).
The highly-rated Newman is known to have advised clients including Barcardi and Martini and is expected to bring a number of clients across to Olswang.
She joined Kilpatrick's City arm in 2004 from Simmons & Simmons, where she had been a partner since 1985 and was head of the IP group. Her profile was further raised in 2005 when Kilpatrick announced plans to restructure its London practice to focus on a fewer number of areas, with just five partners focused mainly on arbitration, employment and IP.
Her latest move follows Olswang’s appointment of former Slaughter and May IP partner Nigel Swycher in March. The firm’s IP department will now have 14 partners and 34 additional fee earners.
Newman commented: “The high calibre of existing [Olswang] clients complements my experience and the integrated nature of the team creates a wealth of opportunities that will benefit my existing clients.”
She added: "The important thing is having a full-service office behind me. The platform at Olswang is better and will free me up to do more of the kind of work I was doing at Simmons.”
In response to her departure, Kilpatrick will hand over control of the group to New York-based IP partner Christopher Woods, who joined the Atlanta-based firm from Simmons alongside Newman.
Kilpatrick co-managing partner Bill Dorris said: “Chris Woods will head up our European IP team and moving forward it will be a matter for him to determine the re-growth of the practice. We have been in London for over 20 years and we are still committed to London and to IP and will be growing the office. We will continue to focus on those areas that are a strength of the firm.”
The London office will have eight lawyers, including five partners, after the latest departures.