Simona Agnolucci
Please see https://www.willkie.com/professionals/a/agnolucci-simona
Cooley LLP
Global
Lawyers
Aaron Archer
Aaron Archer is a partner in the emerging companies and venture practice in London. He specialises in representing both companies and investors who are forming, scaling and investing in high-growth often disruptive companies through a company’s life cycle; from the initial structuring to exit, and all the various types of equity financings (from seed rounds to Series A, B, C and beyond) and general corporate advisory in between. Aaron is also experienced in a broad range of domestic and cross-border corporate transactions, particularly joint ventures and private and public M&A.
Ann Bevitt
Ann Bevitt is a partner in Cooley's London office, where her employment practice covers all aspects, both contentious and non-contentious, of employment law and employment-related matters. On the non-contentious side, she focuses on the employment issues arising out of international reorganisations, outsourcings, insolvencies and mergers and acquisitions. Her contentious work includes the enforcement of restrictive covenants and claims arising on termination of employment. In her privacy practice, Ann assists clients with compliance and risk management, advising on data transfers, privacy policies, monitoring employees and undertaking internal investigations (domestic and cross-border). In her privacy and data security practice, Ann assists clients with privacy and data security compliance and risk management and advises on issues such as effecting data transfers, drafting privacy policies, electronic marketing, monitoring employees, dealing with e-discovery, undertaking internal investigations (domestic and cross-border), responding to subject access requests and notifying breaches. Ann works with clients including governments, multinationals, large corporations and individual senior executives, from industry sectors such as technology, venture capital and private equity, insurance, hotel and leisure, music, banking and financial services, recruitment and employment, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
Sean Brownridge
Sean Brownridge is chair of Cooley’s activism defense group and a nationally recognized activism practitioner. He is a trusted advisor to boards of directors and management teams, with a principal focus on shareholder activism preparedness and defense, investor engagement, crisis management, complex corporate governance matters and contested M&A. Sean has advised on some of the most high-profile and significant matters in the activism space, including the largest director election proxy contest in history and the biggest M&A transaction ever subject to a proxy fight.
Sean brings deep experience navigating high-stakes settlements, proxy contests, withhold campaigns, short attacks and corporate crises. During his career, he has worked on activism engagements involving Avis Budget Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Centene, Colgate-Palmolive, Del Frisco’s, FedEx, Kellanova, Kenvue, Salesforce, Six Flags, Squarespace, Vitamin Shoppe, The Walt Disney Company and Wynn Resorts, among others.
As a complement to his representations of public companies, Sean has extensive experience counseling engaged shareholders across the activism spectrum on the assessment of investment opportunities, capital deployment and investment execution, private engagement, settlement negotiations and cooperation agreements, alternative activism strategies, proxy contests, hostile takeovers and contested M&A transactions. His work with Carl Icahn, Corvex Management, D. E. Shaw & Co., Elliott Management, JANA Partners, Land & Buildings, Politan Capital Management, Sachem Head Capital Management, Starboard Value and Trian Partners – in addition to first-time and occasional activists – informs his guidance to directors and executives.
John Clark
John Clark is a partner in Cooley's London office where he represents lenders, borrowers, trustees, and distressed debt investors in connection with cross border and domestic financing transactions, acquisitions and restructurings. He has extensive experience advising clients on complex capital structures, security and intercreditor issues. He advises clients at all levels of the capital structure with deal experience covering a variety of sectors including, more recently, aviation, real estate, manufacturing and technology. John has also worked with private equity houses on financing various acquisitions and securing funding.
Chris Coulter
Chris Coulter is a partner in Cooley's London office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group. Chris has over 25 years of experience advising clients on a range of technology, data, cyber security, contract and intellectual property issues.Chris advises both established and fast-growth early-stage businesses, and has extensive experience in large-scale projects with a cross-border component. He advises on a wide variety of commercial arrangements underpinned by technology and data, including outsourcing; procurement of technology and complex services; creation and exploitation of rights in software, digital content and technology products; telecoms services; distribution of digital content (including games, films and music); online and mobile business; and the establishment of complex technology licensing arrangements.Chris provides strategic and regulatory advice, including in connection with data, IP, consumer protection and digital marketing. In addition, Chris counsels on the commercial and IP aspects of M&A transactions, investments and joint ventures.
Tim Daniel
Tim Daniel is an independant consultant at Cooley’s London office. He has acted for a number of governments and parastatals, particularly in the developing world. This work has included representation of states before the International Court of Justice in the Hague in boundary disputes and in international arbitration disputes. He has extensive experience of asset tracing, both in the commercial/insolvency sector and currently on behalf of states. Tim is a recognised spokesperson on anti-corruption and asset tracing and has recently been interviewed on BBC Two's "Newsnight," BBC Radio Four's "File on 4" and for The Guardian.
Jenny Davies
Partner
Tom Epps
Tom is a partner in our White Collar Defense & Investigations team. He has been involved in many of the UK’s largest and most complex fraud investigations and prosecutions over the last 20 years.
Rod Freeman
Rod Freeman is a partner in Cooley's London office and an international products lawyer. He is routinely ranked as a leading product litigation lawyer in the major legal directories, where he is described as “the outstanding go-to specialist for product liability matters” and “without a shadow of a doubt the most knowledgeable product liability lawyer in the European space”. Rod works alongside the world's leading global companies to help them solve their product-related issues, protect their reputations, defend their products and build more successful businesses. With a background in high-stakes product liability litigation and more than 20 year's devoted to international products law, Rod understands the challenges faced by international brand names in an increasingly risky global environment. He has the experience and insight to find creative and practical commercial solutions to product issues around the world. Rod leads a team that defends product liability litigation, handles product-related B2B disputes, manages and resolves product safety and regulatory compliance issues, and manages international product recalls. In short, Rod helps his clients find solutions to their issues that arise throughout the product life cycle.
Enrique Gallego Capdevila
Special Counsel
Sascha Grimm
Sascha Grimm is a partner in Cooley’s Commercial Litigation department in the London office. Her experience spans civil litigation, regulatory investigations, as well as IP/brand protection matters and disputes arising out of product liability issues. She has particularly experience in working on large-scale projects for clients in crisis management matters where there is a significant threat to the fundamental enterprise or reputation of the client.
Andrew Harline
Andrew Harline represents both public and privately-held companies in a wide range of corporate and securities matters, including private financings, mergers and acquisitions and public offerings. He also represents venture capital and private equity funds in connection with financings and other transactions. Andrew is counsel to companies across a broad range of industries and ranging from start-ups to well established companies.
Laurence Harris
Laurence Harris is partner in Cooley's London office and vice chair of the firm's litigation department. He acts for public and private companies, governments, public sector bodies and individuals in complex commercial, public law, fraud and asset tracing disputes. He has extensive experience of both English High Court and international arbitration proceedings under ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ad hoc rules. Laurence has had wide involvement in cross-border disputes, frequently involving fraud and asset tracing. He has focused for some years in risk management issues. Laurence has been a solicitor-advocate since 2001, able to undertake advocacy in all English civil courts. He is admitted to the Turks & Caicos Islands bar for limited purposes.
David He
David is a partner focused on start-ups and venture capital.
Tanya Heare-Rowlands
Tanya Heare-Rowlands is special counsel in Cooley's London office. She has extensive experience in patents and applications in the life sciences field. As well as drafting and prosecuting British, European and International patent applications, Tanya advises on opposition and appeal matters and provides opinions on patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate. She has an excellent track record in oral proceedings at the European Patent Office, having successfully represented her clients before both the Examining and Opposition Divisions on a variety of matters. She has worked with a number of well-known companies from small start-ups, academic institutions and universities through medium-sized pharmaceutical companies to large multinationals. Tanya works closely with her clients, to understand their commercial objectives and maximise the value in their intellectual property. Tanya’s particular areas of interest are in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, including biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology and genetics and also medical devices. She has worked on patent matters for a vast array of technologies, including nucleic acid sequencing technologies, molecular markers (for diagnostic, detection and screening programmes), immunotherapeutics (particularly for treating cancer and inflammatory disorders), antibodies, peptide- and protein-based vaccines, stem cells, biological assays, formulation technology (particularly for inhalation and topical use), nanoparticles (particularly for the delivery of therapeutic agents), agri-tech (particularly genetically modified crops), food products and processing (particularly health foods), filter technology, packaging technology, wound dressings, ostomy appliances, orthopaedic implants, compression devices, smart joint implant sensors and handheld surgical tools.
Paula Holland
Paula Holland has over 20 years of experience in executive compensation and equity incentive issues both domestically in the UK and internationally. Her wide-ranging transactional and advisory practice is focused particularly on technology and life science companies. She has worked with clients ranging from start-ups to multi-nationals, both public and private, headquartered around the world. She regularly advises on the exporting of US and UK equity plans to multiple jurisdictions and can give strategic advice on the tax, securities laws and employment law issues in over 60 countries. Paula also assist remuneration committees in their determinations relating to retention and incentive arrangements for board members and senior management. Paula is a partner in Cooley's London office and is a member of the compensation & benefits practice group.
Richard Hopley
Richard Hopley is a partner in Cooley's London office and is a member of the Insurance & Reinsurance team. He handles complex insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes, particularly those involving product liability or innovative insurance products, in litigation or arbitration. He also advises on the restructuring of insurance and reinsurance portfolios.
Ben Hur
Please see https://www.willkie.com/professionals/h/hur-benedict
Claire Keast-Butler
Claire Keast-Butler is a partner in Cooley's London office. Her practice focuses on capital markets transactions. She represents issuers, investment banks and investors on initial public offerings and secondary offerings. She also regularly advises listed companies on corporate and securities law matters and corporate governance, and has considerable experience in public and private mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
David Kendall
David Kendall is a partner in Cooley's London office and focuses on all aspects of insurance and reinsurance, including coverage, delegated authorities, run-off and insolvency. His cases include insurance coverage disputes (including third-party liability, marine, financial institutions, political risk, D&0 and property insurance), reinsurance disputes, insurance/reinsurance run-off and insolvency, arbitration and commercial court litigation. He has extensive experience of Bermuda form arbitrations in London. David has been appointed to the Advisory Council of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London, where he is also a Visiting Professor. David was the Chairman from 2012 to 2014 of the British Insurance Law Association and co-author of A Practical Guide to the Insurance Act 2015.
Jonas Koponen
Partner
Pang Lee
Pang Lee's practice is focused on the offering, investment and operation of various types of private investment funds, with a focus on venture capital and private equity funds, special situation funds, and investment advisory businesses. He has advised clients on various types of fund formations across a range of geographies and industries, particularly for fund managers and institutional investors making investments in and around the Pacific Rim, with an emphasis on Greater China, South and Southeast Asia and the Silicon Valley. Pang also has experience advising clients on secondary transactions, co-investments and strategic joint venture arrangements. Pang brings a global perspective, having started his career as a private funds lawyer in New York, and have also practiced in the San Francisco and Shanghai offices of Cooley. Pang regularly speaks at regional industry conferences in China and Southeast Asia.
Yiming Liu
Yiming Liu represents companies and investment funds on strategic transactions in the life sciences and technology industries. Yiming regularly advises clients on the structuring, negotiation and documentation of a wide range of cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, venture financings, joint ventures, licensing and collaboration arrangements. In addition, Yiming is widely recognized for his work on life sciences and healthcare IPOs in Hong Kong and the US. In particular, he is adept in leading the compilation of offering documents and the communications with issuers, underwriters, investors and regulators during the listing processes. With advanced degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology and health services administration, Yiming leverages his technical background to help clients achieve their desired results.
Patrick Loofbourrow
Patrick is a co-founder of Cooley’s Shanghai and Singapore offices and splits his time across Cooley’s Asia and California offices. Patrick's practice focuses on the representation of high-growth emerging technology and life sciences companies as well as venture capital and other firms that invest in those companies across Asia and the US. Concentrating on corporate and securities law, he has counseled company clients and investors in a wide variety of projects, including company formations, spin-offs, private and public financings, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and other strategic transactions, employee equity incentives, corporate governance matters and SEC reporting and compliance. Patrick counsels companies in a variety of industries, including fintech, ecommerce, edtech, software, digital health, biotechnology, healthcare and medical devices.
Nicola Maguire
Nicola Maguire is a partner in Cooley's Life Sciences practice and is resident in the London office. She has developed a practice specialising in advising life sciences companies and other clients whose businesses have a significant reliance on intellectual property. Many of the transactions on which Nicola works have a significant international element, with parties in the U.S. or Europe. Nicola's experience includes advising on the acquisition for Swedish listed company Meda AB of an Italian specialty pharma company, Rottapharm, for the Danish, listed company Ambu A/S on its acquisition of King Systems, a US subsidiary of UK listed company, Consort Medical, on the creation of an Indian joint venture between the Wellcome Trust and Merck and on the creation of a joint venture between Swedish company, Karolinska Development and UK based Rosetta Capital. Transactions such as this illustrate the cross-border nature of Nicola's practice. She has particular expertise advising clients at all stages of development, from early stage startups to listed companies, and on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and equity fundings. Nicola's practice also includes advising on general commercial matters such as materials transfer agreements, intellectual property licences, research and collaboration agreements and distribution and manufacturing agreements. Recent transactions include acting for the Wellcome Trust on its collaboration relating to dengue fever with the University of Leuven and Janssen and for King's College London on a licence and development agreement with UCB.
James Maton
James Maton is a partner in Cooley’s London office and heads Cooley’s versatile UK disputes practice. He acts for companies and states on a wide range of commercial, contractual, product liability, and public international law disputes, whether resolved in Court proceedings or arbitration. His cases are often multi-jurisdictional and his work for companies is particularly focused on the technology and manufacturing sectors. He conducts and co-ordinates internal investigations, and is experienced at helping companies to manage and resolve the numerous legal and reputational challenges that unexpected crises can present. James has advised states worldwide on sensitive public international law issues, and on the remedies for the corrupt activities of public officials, including representing states in civil proceedings seeking to trace, freeze and recover the proceeds of corruption or seeking compensation for corruption, advising on termination of corrupt contracts, assisting with civil recovery under Proceeds of Crime legislation, and advising on requests for mutual legal assistance in criminal proceedings. He often co-ordinates multi-jurisdictional teams. James is a co-author of the Third Edition of “Corruption and Misuse of Public Office,” published in October 2017 by the Oxford University Press.
John-Paul Motley
Practice Group Leader; Partner
Colm Murphy
Colm Murphy is a partner in Cooley's London office. He is an European Patent Attorney and a Chartered Patent Attorney with a practice covering a broad range of IP matters in the life sciences arena. He has over 20 years' experience advising clients in relation to biochemical, pharmaceutical and medical device patents. Colm's practice includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications to EPO Oppositions and Appeals; freedom-to-operate clearances; as well advising on IP portfolio/ risk management strategies; and IP exploitation. His approach is to build strong collaborative relationships with clients in order to be able to provide proactive and commercial solutions. Colm has particular expertise advising clients in contentious matters including Opposition and Appeals at the European Patent Office. He acts in this area as European counsel for a global gene sequencing company and has successfully defended and invalidated many European patents on their behalf.
Ryan Naftulin
Ryan Naftulin is partner and vice chair of Cooley's business department. He represents companies and investors who are forming and financing disruptive high-growth companies, particularly in the technology and life sciences sectors. He assists clients with equity financings, M&A, strategic relationships, board governance and general corporate matters. With his experience in Silicon Valley, the East Coast of the United States, and London, Ryan is able to help companies navigate major corporate transactions across the US and UK. Ryan served on the inaugural committee of the National Venture Capital Association for model venture capital financing documents and has also moderated a webcast for that group regarding venture capital deal structures. He has served on a panel entitled "Beyond the Series A Financing – Issues to Consider in Subsequent Financings" at the American Bar Association's Section of Business Law annual spring meeting.
Jordan Silber
Jordan’s practice is concentrated on the formation and representation of private investment funds – primarily venture capital and growth equity funds – in the US, Greater Asia and Middle East/North Africa regions. Over the last 20 years, he has acted in a leading legal capacity in the raising of more than $100 billion in private fund interests across a multitude of investment areas, primarily focusing on technology, healthcare and life sciences.
Henry Stewart
Henry Stewart is a partner in the commercial litigation group in London and advises on a wide range of commercial disputes, focusing particularly on contractual issues and asset recovery/anticorruption work. He acts for a variety of clients, from governments and multinational corporations to individuals, in all forms of dispute resolution.
Patrick Van Eecke
Partner
John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson is partner in Cooley's London office and his practice focuses primarily on the life sciences sector, advising pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies on a wide range of IP, regulatory, antitrust and transactional matters. Amongst other things, John's practice has involved a number of highly complex alliances and joint ventures, co-promotional and co-marketing arrangements, distribution and supply agreements, together with the operational, IP, antitrust and regulatory issues relating to such transactions. Before qualifying as a lawyer, John obtained a degree in chemistry from Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine and spent five years in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry working in drug development and other areas. John advises pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the US, Canada, UK, Denmark, Hungary, Switzerland, Portugal, Sweden and Norway.
David Wilson
David Wilson is a partner in Cooley's London office and advises on a broad spectrum of UK and cross-border tax matters, including public and private mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs and reorganisations. David has extensive experience with corporate finance transactions, including issuances of debt, equity and hybrid instruments into US, UK and other capital markets. He has a particular interest in tax aspects of insurance and in the insurance of tax risk, and is closely following international developments in the taxation of the digital economy.
David Wraige
David Wraige is a special counsel in the Cooley's London office and focuses on the drafting and prosecution of patent applications. He also has a wealth of experience in European Patent Office opposition proceedings. He has attended numerous hearings at the EPO for examination and opposition cases (both at first instance and appeal) as well as at the UK's Intellectual Property Office. David also conducts due diligence investigations to support asset transfers and advises on matters of infringement and validity, including freedom-to-operate investigations. Although his practice has a particular emphasis on medical devices, he has advised clients on all aspects of patents in the engineering, electronics and software fields, including semiconductor processing, microelectromechanical devices, analogue and digital electronic circuits, cash handling, relational databases and outdoor advertising.
Jingyi Xu
Jingyi Xu is a partner of Cooley’s fund formation practice. Her practice focuses on the formation and representation of private investment funds both in the United States and internationally. In particular, Jingyi specializes in representing fund managers investing in China in connection with the formation of their USD-dominated funds, including venture capital funds, private equity funds and project funds, as well as upper-tier arrangements, carried interest plans and various governance matters. Jingyi also represents institutional investors (including sovereign wealth funds and funds of funds) and other investors in connection with investments in private funds.
Xun Zeng
Xun Zeng is an investment funds partner of Cooley’s Beijing office. Her practice focuses on the formation, structuring and operation of a wide variety of investment funds, including venture capital, private equity, hybrid and co-investment funds. She advises fund sponsors on the marketing, formation and operation of their funds, as well as upper-tier arrangements, carried interest plans, strategic joint venture arrangements and various governance matters. Xun also has extensive experience in representing institutional investors in connection with investments in private funds.
Christina Zhang
Christina Zhang is partner and chief representative of Cooley's Shanghai office. Christina has more than 20 years of practice experience, gained through private practice and in–house experience in the US and China. Christina represents clients and investment funds in cross border transactions, especially in life sciences and high tech industries. She has represented clients in their financings, licensing and partnership transactions, joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities in China and US.