Osborne Clarke strengthens IP and disputes team with trio of new partners

Joiners arrive from Hausfeld, Pinsent Masons and Gowling WLG

New partners at Osborne Clarke, from left, Aqeel Kadri, Helen Waddell and Mathilda Davidson

International law firm Osborne Clark has welcomed in the new year with a trio of hires across London and Bristol to boost its non-contentious IP and disputes teams.

Competition litigation partner Aqeel Kadri has moved over from specialist litigation practice Hausfeld in London alongside construction and engineering disputes partner Helen Waddell, who has joined from Pinsent Masons. Meantime in Bristol transactional intellectual property lawyer Mathilda Davidson has joined as a partner from Gowling WLG, where she was most recently a legal director. 

Kadri worked at the Competition and Markets Authority and was at White & Case for six years before he moved to Hausfeld. He also works part time as a recorder at HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

He has extensive experience of collective actions and both public and private enforcement of competition law in the EU and UK.

His recent focus has been on claimant-side collective actions, and he is currently instructed in four sets of collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal with a combined value in excess of £2bn. Kadri joined the firm on 16 December.

Waddell has joined after more than 27 years at Pinsent Masons, where she made partner in 2015 and rose to become global board member of the firm’s construction advisory and disputes team. She has experience advising clients in relation to construction, infrastructure and energy project disputes. She has advised clients on both domestic and international matters and has worked in the UK as well as Singapore. She will join Osborne Clarke on 23 January.

Meantime Davidson spent nearly 10 years at Gowling WLG and, before that, began her career at Wragge & Co. As a transactional IP specialist, she advises clients on research and development, collaboration and licensing projects in the life sciences sector, as well as advising other technology-led businesses. 

She advises companies and research institutions on product development and acquisition, collaboration and licensing deals. She has worked with high-profile companies including AstraZeneca, Cancer Research Horizons (formerly Cancer Research Technology), Nxera Pharma (formerly Sosei Heptares), Oxford BioTherapeutics and Amphista Therapeutics. She joined the firm on 6 January.

Osborne Clarke’s UK senior partner, Peter Clough, said: “The new partners will strengthen our non-contentious IP and disputes teams and bring a wealth of experience across competition and antitrust, life sciences and construction, infrastructure and energy projects disputes.”

Osborne Clarke has also recently expanded its management team, appointing Munich-based Carsten Knoll as chief strategy officer and chief operating officer. Knoll began his new role on 1 January. 

In July, the firm posted a robust set of results with firm-wide revenue jumping 19% to €525m against an 11% increase in UK profits per equity partner (PEP) to £771k.

Four of Osborne Clarke’s seven key UK sectors – life sciences and healthcare; retail and consumer; mobility and infrastructure; and energy and utilities – achieved double digit growth.

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