Partner duo Mark Heaney and David Stone are leaving Simmons & Simmons to join the intellectual property practice at Magic Circle firm Allen & Overy. They are the third and fourth IP partners that A&O has poached from Simmons & Simmons this year, following the hires of former Simmons IP head Marc Döring and partner Marjan Noor earlier this year. Mr Heaney and Mr Stone’s departures will leave Simmons with ten IP partner in London, while A&O’s IP partner ranks will be boosted to seven.

Adding breadth and depth

Mr Heaney has left Simmons after less than a year with the firm. His practice focuses on patents, confidential information and copyright and related rights. Mr Stone has been a partner with Simmons since 2008, and specializes in trademarks and registered/unregistered designs. A&O IP practice head Nicola Dagg commented: ‘We have a big pipeline of cutting edge cases in London and we wanted more breadth and depth to service those. These latest hires provide us with the sub-specialties that we needed.’ Both new partners will start with the firm next month.

Sources: The Lawyer; Legal Week