Paul Hastings has made a twin partner hire from Hogan Lovells to expand its life sciences practice in Washington DC.
The incoming duo are Lynn Mehler, who was co-head of Hogan Lovells’ global life sciences and healthcare industry group, and Phil Katz, who previously ran the firm’s pharmaceuticals and biotechnology regulatory practice. Mehler joins as chair of Paul Hastings’ life sciences regulatory group.
The duo’s move comes ahead of the planned merger between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, which the firms are dubbing the “largest law firm combination in history”.
The pair bring more than 60 years of combined experience in the pharma and biotech industry, helping clients navigate the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulatory process.
Frank Lopez, Paul Hastings’ chair, said: “The movement of a top-of-the market life sciences regulatory team is incredibly rare and we are grateful that Lynn and Phil share our vision for creating a premier full-service life sciences platform, from regulatory and compliance to IP litigation, investigations and antitrust to equity capital markets, ECVC and private and public M&A.”
Lopez added: “Life sciences is a sector where the importance of premier regulatory talent provides a barrier to entry, and we believe that Lynn and Phil and the broader team immediately provide a destination regulatory practice and will be instrumental for us to take market share across many of our practices with premier life sciences clients.”
Mehler arrives after 15 years at Hogan Lovells, having previously spent 13 years as senior counsel in the FDA’s Office of the Chief Counsel. Katz joins after 21 years at Hogan Lovells, having had earlier stints at Crowell & Moring, Buc & Beardsley and Weil Gotshal & Manges.
Mehler said: “The energy and ambition at Paul Hastings is palpable and we are excited to collaboratively work with the impressive, broad and growing cross-practice life sciences team to provide a first-in-class full-service platform to best serve pharmaceutical and biotech clients.”
Last June, Katz’s former firm Crowell & Moring absorbed 24-lawyer dealmaking boutique Faber Daeufer & Itrato as part of the launch of Crowell Life Sciences. And in April last year, Fenwick opened in Boston with a three partner IP team from Cooley to target the city’s life sciences and tech sectors.
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