Mr Charles Courtenay > Michelmores LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Michelmores LLP
12TH FLOOR, 6 NEW STREET SQUARE
LONDON
EC4A 3BF
England
Charles Courtenay photo

Work Department

Commercial and Regulatory Disputes - Commercial Litigation

Position

I am a Partner in Michelmores’ Commercial & Regulatory Disputes team, focusing on intellectual property and other complex disputes, with particular emphasis on cross-border, technology, and finance matters.
I am dual qualified as an English barrister and a California attorney. I have litigated and advised in many major IP matters (including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret cases), along with a number of important contract disputes in software and other technology and finance industries. I have taken key matters to trial and arbitration both in England and the United States, winning a number of important and valuable decisions.

Before joining Michelmores, I led the European Intellectual Property Disputes team at Latham & Watkins, London, and spent time in-house at JP Morgan. Previously, I worked for eight years with Latham in Los Angeles, litigating for a number of the world’s leading technology firms.

I am also the 19th Earl of Devon, and in 2018, I was elected to the House of Lords as a Crossbench Hereditary Peer, where I champion the interests of Devon and speak on Technology, Heritage, Agriculture, and the Environment. I am a member of the Intellectual Property All Party Parliamentary Group as well as the AI APPG. I chair conferences on technology and AI-related matters for the Westminster Forum and am also a board member of the British American Parliamentary Group. My legislative work is unrelated to my legal practice.

Independent of my role at Michelmores, I am also the owner and steward of the Powderham Estate, near Exeter. Powderham is a mixed estate combining arable, pasture, forestry, and foreshore, and is centred on the ancient Courtenay family home of Powderham Castle.

Expertise

Charles Courtenay – Partner – Commercial & Regulatory Disputes | Michelmores

Lawyer Rankings

South West > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property

Michelmores LLP‘s  advisory offering in the IP space extends to both established multinational businesses as well as innovative start-ups, with a focus on the food and drink and consumer brand sectors. David Thompson heads up the team and leverages his extensive commercial experience to assist clients with a broad range of matters, ranging from IP contracts to brand protection. Charles Courtenay is noted for his cross-border expertise relating to disputes, including telecoms patent litigation. On associate level, Philippa Collison is particularly active advising consumer brands on various IP issues.

South West > Dispute resolution > Commercial litigation: Dorset, Devon and Cornwall

With demonstrable experience across the financial services, consumer, private wealth and technology sectors, Michelmores LLP handles a broad range of corporate and commercial disputes, often involving cross-border, regulatory, reputation management, insurance and intellectual property issues. Praised for his ‘methodical and pragmatic approach’, practice leader Jonathan Kitchin handles contractual disputes, director or shareholder litigation, insurance cases and professional negligence claims, amongst others. Sara Chisholm-Batten is always ‘equipped to deal with any unexpected potholes along the road of litigation’, and Jayne Clemens is noted for her expertise in reputation management disputes. Other key contacts in the group include Alice Daniels, who handles contentious trusts and fraud mandates, Charles Courtenay and Andrew Oldland KC. Hannah Venn-Munns joined the practice from Wollens in August 2024.