Herbert Smith Freehills LLP

Intellectual Property

Partner

Emily is a patent litigator with particular expertise in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

Emily has nearly a decade of experience handling patent litigation in the life sciences sector. She specialises in advising major global life sciences companies on technically complex and business-critical disputes, often involving large patent portfolios. She has advised clients in relation to products in a broad range of fields within life sciences, including genetic diagnostics, DNA sequencing, small molecules and monoclonal antibody-based therapies.

As well as litigating in the UK Patents Court and Court of Appeal, Emily provides strategic advice on pan-European and global patent litigation, including where cases involve proceedings before the European Patent Office and challenging regulatory and competition issues. She has attended and advised on significant patent trials in the US and on litigation experiments.

Alongside her practice, Emily is active in the legal and IP community. She is part of the leadership team of the London Chapter of ChIPs and speaks regularly about the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the IP sector. Emily also coordinates the pro bono work of Herbert Smith Freehills' IP team in London, and speaks regularly to students interested in STEM careers.

During her career at Herbert Smith Freehills, Emily has been based in the London, Milan and Tokyo offices. Emily's international experience and her dual qualifications in law and biological sciences mean she is readily able to grasp highly technical material and the international dimensions of multijurisdictional disputes.

Emily graduated with a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, specialising in Neuroscience having studied a range of subjects including biochemistry, chemistry, cell biology and physiology. She carried out research projects at the Medical Research Council’s Mitochondrial Biology Unit in Cambridge, and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the United States. In 2016 she was awarded a Distinction in the University of Oxford’s Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law and Practice.

Emily is admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and is a solicitor advocate with rights of audience in all civil proceedings in the UK. She is also admitted as a solicitor in Ireland.