Taylor Wessing signals IP ambitions with top-ranked partner hire

Taylor Wessing has hired long-standing RPC partner Jeremy Drew, bolstering its already strong IP bench just months before it completes its headline-grabbing merger with US firm Winston & Strawn.

Drew joins after nearly 20 years at RPC, where he was head of IP and technology and a member of the firm’s board for around 15 years. He also led RPC’s commercial division until earlier this year and is regarded as one of the City’s top IP lawyers.

UK managing partner Shane Gleghorn said Drew’s arrival “significantly strengthens our market-leading IP practice and reinforces our commitment to building an unrivalled IP powerhouse”, while IP head Niri Shan described him as bringing “exceptional expertise across the full spectrum of IP, regulatory and digital work”.

His recruitment gives Taylor Wessing another senior figure in a practice that is already considered one of the strongest in London, particularly in hard IP, where it regularly handles lucrative high-value patent litigation for major pharmaceutical clients including Abbott.

IP at the heart of the merger

Taylor Wessing is preparing to close its transatlantic merger with Chicago-headquartered Winston & Strawn in May, after partners voted to approve the tie-up at the end of January, creating Winston Taylor.

IP has been positioned as a central pillar of the deal, pairing Taylor Wessing’s UK and European platform with Winston’s established US IP litigation practice.

The combined firm has talked up the creation of a market-leading transatlantic IP offering - a smart play at a time when complex patent disputes, particularly in life sciences and tech, increasingly span jurisdictions.

Merger approaching

Taylor Wessing has also recently seen its first senior departures since the deal was announced. Earlier this month, it was announced that corporate real estate partners Mark Rajbenbach and Victoria Butcher were leaving for Mayer Brown.