Business leaders gathered together this week to celebrate Herbert Smith Freehills' official office opening at a party in Milan.
More than 100 guests gathered together in prestigious setting of the Milan's Diocesan Museum Rooms, to mark the firm officially opening for business in the City earlier this year.
Herbert Smith Freehills partners Laura Orlando and Sebastian Moore, of Counsel Pietro Pouché and the Italy team welcomed key clients and members of the press, as well as other partners from across the network, for an evening of entertainment, including a twilight guided tour of the museum.
In January this year, the firm further strengthened its European offering with the opening of a new office in Milan. Laura - who previously led Simmons & Simmons' Italian Disputes, Intellectual Property practices, and life sciences sector group - opened the office and specialises in contentious and non-contentious IP, with a focus on patent and regulatory law in the life sciences sector.
In this field she has acted in some of the highest profile multi-jurisdictional patent cases, also within the context of the Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) Regulation, and has assisted major pharmaceutical companies in connection with patent issues concerning their biggest-selling drugs. She also advises on regulatory matters, particularly at the interface with patent law.
Since opening, Laura has been joined by Herbert Smith Freehills Partner Sebastian Moore, who was brought up in Italy and is recognised by the legal directories as a leading patent litigator. He regularly acts for top clients in UK litigation, EPO oppositions and in co-ordinating actions on a pan-European basis.
While the firm already has a leading pharma client base in London, expanding its EMEA network further strengthens its pharma patent litigation capability across Continental Europe – a key market for pharmaceutical companies, second only to the US.
Over the past five years, Herbert Smith Freehills has opened four offices across Europe and made over 30 lateral Partner hires.