Minters hires two-partner IP litigation team from KWM in Australia
Minter Ellison has hired two senior IP litigators and their teams from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Australia. Wayne McMaster was previously head of KWM's national IP and health & pharmaceuticals practice, whilst Robert Cooper worked alongside him on patent disputes and trademarks.
February 06, 2014 at 04:36 AM
3 minute read
Minter Ellison has hired two senior IP litigators and their teams from King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Australia.
Wayne McMaster was previously head of KWM's national IP and health & pharmaceuticals practice, whilst Robert Cooper worked alongside him on patent disputes and trademarks.
The Melbourne-based partners have joined Minter Ellison in the city with a team of 13, including a special counsel, three senior associates, four lawyers, a group of paralegals and support staff.
Australia chief executive partner John Weber said the hires came amid an increase in disputes work in the pharmaceutical sector.
"Minter Ellison is well positioned to take the opportunity to grow in areas of strong client demand in Australia – and dispute resolution in the pharmaceutical sector is one of those areas," he said.
"[The partners'] arrival brings a new dimension to our commercial disputes and intellectual property practices and will help to drive growth in those areas by opening up new client and market opportunities."
McMaster and Cooper are the latest in a long list of partners to have exited KWM since the merger of the Chinese and Australian legacy outfits.
Other departures in Australia in the last six months have included construction partner Beth Cubitt, who moved to Clyde & Co in November, corporate partner David Perks, who was hired by Gadens in September, and real estate partner Andrew Norman, who joined Clayton Utz in January.
Meanwhile Minters, which is among two of Australia's 'big six' law firms which remain independent, has made only a handful of lateral hires in Australia in the last year amid a slowdown in domestic M&A activity.
It has instead focused its efforts on Asia, launching a tax practice for the region in July with the hire of Ernst & Young duo Christian Pellone and Edward Lean in Hong Kong, and boosting its teams in China in November with the recruitment of two office managing partners from rival international firms.
They included corporate lawyer Jem Li who joined from Winston & Strawn in Beijing and projects partner Rebecca Silli who moved over from Gide Loyrette Nouel in Hong Kong.
The firm is also mulling opening a new office in Singapore.
Related: Minters hires Winston & Strawn, Gide Asia office heads in regional push
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Can Law Firms Avoid Landing on the 'Enemy' List During the Trump Administration?
5 minute read
Letter From Asia: Will Big Law Ever Bother to Understand Asia Again?
Simpson Thacher, Nishimura, Mori Hamada Assist on KKR's $4B Winning Bid in Japan
Trending Stories
- 1'It's Not Going to Be Pretty': PayPal, Capital One Face Novel Class Actions Over 'Poaching' Commissions Owed Influencers
- 211th Circuit Rejects Trump's Emergency Request as DOJ Prepares to Release Special Counsel's Final Report
- 3Supreme Court Takes Up Challenge to ACA Task Force
- 4'Tragedy of Unspeakable Proportions:' Could Edison, DWP, Face Lawsuits Over LA Wildfires?
- 5Meta Pulls Plug on DEI Programs
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
