Heller Ehrman Adds Richard Penfold to London Office

Richard Penfold joins as a partner, extending firm’s IP transactional and licensing capacity

(LONDON) 31 July 2008 – Heller Ehrman announced today that Richard Penfold, an experienced intellectual property lawyer, has joined the firm’s London office as a partner.  Richard joins the firm from DLA Piper where he was a partner in that firm’s London office and head of its interactive games group.  His addition represents continued growth in Heller Ehrman’s London office, which opened in early 2007 and now has 24 lawyers, including 11 partners.

Richard has handled contentious and non-contentious IP matters within the technology, digital media, video game, franchising and leisure sectors.  He has experience with a broad range of IP matters, from data protection and privacy, to software and technology licensing, advertising and marketing regulation, brand protection strategies, publishing, personality rights and merchandising and sponsorship.  Amongst the clients he has represented are Virgin Enterprises Limited, Acer Snowmec Limited, ABS CBN, Marriott Hotels, Verisign and Arcadia Group.

“Richard’s IP experience is in high demand from our existing London client base, particularly technology companies,” said Brian Smith, managing partner of Heller Ehrman’s London office.  “His addition represents another step forward for us in London and the first time we’ve expanded our well known IP practice with an on-the-ground practitioner in the UK.”

Since opening in London, Heller Ehrman has established itself as a top legal services provider to technology companies in the UK, winning the coveted “Technology Law Firm of the Year” at the UK Technology Innovation and Growth 2008 Awards.

Richard’s addition is important to the London Corporate/VLG practice because the office requires local, English law IP support both for corporate transactional work (including M&A diligence, warranty/disclosure advice and technical descriptions within capital markets documents) and for the provision of strategic IP counseling and handling IP only transactions.

“For emerging companies, IP is the asset from which they realise value, through corporate transactions, licensing or, more often, a combination of the two,” said Richard.  “The prospect of growing an IP transactional practice with Heller Ehrman in London is a terrific opportunity.”

Richard earned an L.L.B. from the University of Nottingham and passed his solicitors’ finals at York Law School.  He was a partner at Harbottle & Lewis in London prior to joining DLA Piper as a partner in 2004.

About Heller Ehrman

Heller Ehrman has 650 attorneys and professionals in 14 offices worldwide: Anchorage, Alaska; Beijing; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; Madison, Wis.; New York; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Silicon Valley (Menlo Park, Calif.); Singapore; and Washington, D.C.  Heller Ehrman represents a wide range of industry leaders, from entrepreneurial, technology-driven enterprises to established, multinational conglomerates.  The firm’s core values are Excellence, People, Teamwork, Innovation, Community and One Firm. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Timeline

• 16 January 2007: Heller Ehrman announced plans to open an office in London, extending three of its core practices – corporate technology, competition and real estate and hospitality – and solidifying Heller Ehrman’s status as a leading legal services provider to emerging, tech industry companies.
• 12 February 2007: Heller Ehrman announced that the firm added the leading European emerging company and technology practice to its London office with the addition of former WilmerHale partners Richard Eaton, Christopher Grew and Struan Penwarden.
• 16 February 2007: Heller Ehrman announced that competition specialist Douglas Lahnborg joined the firm from Slaughter and May in London.
• 27 February 2007: Heller Ehrman announced that Christopher Prout, a tax and benefits specialist, and Scott Leonard-Morgan, a corporate and securities lawyer, joined the firm’s London office as partners.  Both were previously in practice at the London office of WilmerHale.
• 2 November 2007: Heller Ehrman announced that the London office moved to Condor House, 10 St. Paul’s Churchyard, near St. Paul’s Cathedral, which provided larger operating space that enabled the firm to further expand its London office as it grew in core practices.
• 17 January 2008: Heller Ehrman announced the addition of Robert Asher, a corporate real estate partner who specialises in the hospitality area.  Asher was formerly a partner in the London office of Sidley Austin LLP.
• 25 March 2008: Heller Ehrman was named the “Technology Law Firm of the Year” at the UK Technology Innovation and Growth 2008 Awards. The annual award recognises law firms that have a talented industry team dedicated to the sector and that provide support and expertise above and beyond the call of duty to their technology clients.
• 23 July 2008: Heller Ehrman ranks among the most active firms in several M&A categories in Thomson Reuters’ second quarter league tables, including a No. 18 ranking for involvement in European M&A deals, based on announced deal value, and a top 25 ranking, based on worldwide M&A activity.
• 31 July 2008: Heller Ehrman announced that Richard Penfold, an experienced intellectual property lawyer, has joined the firm’s London office as a partner from DLA Piper, reflecting the growth of Heller Ehrman’s London office to 24 lawyers, including 11 partners, since early 2007.