Dr William Hillson & Sarah McFarlane—Powell Gilbert

IP law firm Powell Gilbert LLP has added to its team through the hire of two newly-qualified solicitors, Dr William Hillson and Sarah McFarlane. Both have strong scientific backgrounds, in keeping with Powell Gilbert’s hallmark of technical excellence among its team of lawyers.  

William joins the firm from Herbert Smith Freehills, and holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham and a DPhil in Molecular Pathology from the University of Oxford. His prior work has involved coordination of multi-jurisdictional pharmaceutical patent litigation, patent and SPC validity analysis, advising on patent lifecycle management and preliminary injunction applications.

Sarah joins from Allen & Overy, she holds a First Class BSc in Natural Sciences from Durham University and brings a range of experience in IP litigation, having assisted with a major antibody patent dispute which was described as one of the most technically complex cases dealt with by the Patents Court in the last year.

Dr Penny Gilbert, partner at Powell Gilbert LLP, commented: “We are delighted to welcome William and Sarah to Powell Gilbert. Both of them have excellent legal backgrounds as well as strong technical skills, which will be of great benefit to our team and in the work we do for our clients.”

“William and Sarah join the firm at a busy and exciting time, as we celebrate our tenth anniversary. We look forward to their contributions and having them as part of the growing Powell Gilbert team.”