Focus on our Commercial & Intellectual Property (IP) team at Clarke Willmott
In this series, we’re speaking directly with our legal specialists to learn more about their areas of expertise, what they enjoy most about their work, and most importantly how each team works closely together to provide exceptional legal care to our clients.
At Clarke Willmott, our Commercial & Intellectual Property (IP) team works with clients intending to set up or expand their business by moving into new markets, launching online, or offering new products or services to an established customer base. We provide commercially focused and cost-effective advice to support our clients combined with a straightforward and pragmatic approach.
We maintain a close relationship with our clients and provide support on a wide portfolio of work from long-term supplier or service contracts, tailored terms and conditions to licensing and other software-based agreements.
Our advice is tailored to the needs of each client and their particular commercial priorities or concerns. As each client’s specification is different, we never take a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
We spoke to the team about their specialisms within Commercial & IP and how they use their skills and expertise to provide the best possible service for their clients.
Tell us about your Commercial & IP team at Clarke Willmott
Our Commercial & IP team focus on how to achieve the best results for our clients. We are a strong, capable, and enthusiastic team with solid commercial experience gained both in private practice and in-house. Our expertise across a full-service law firm means any one of our lawyers has access to a network of fellow specialists that can address your legal query precisely and cost effectively thus ensuring that you receive the best holistic legal care.
Partner, Stephen Green focuses on commercial contracts which includes support in buying/selling goods and services, and warehousing agreements. Stephen’s experience allows him to understand client priorities and the impact of different strategic approaches taken by organisations.
His client experience includes the T20 Caribbean Premier League where he has acted as the main legal adviser and he worked in-house as senior legal counsel for MATCH Hospitality, working on major international sporting events which include the ATP tennis finals and Formula One. Stephen offers advice on all mainstream commercial and outsourcing contracts across the business divisions.
Partner, Sarah Coe has a wealth of experience acting for businesses seeking to enter new markets or exploit new technology. She has worked in magic circle private practice IP / Technology teams as well as acting as in-house legal counsel for several finance, healthcare and tech companies in London.
Sarah has specialised in IP and Technology law for her entire career, both from her early years in a patent attorney firm through to her first partnership in a leading IP and libel firm. She has expertise in both pure and transactional intellectual property matters and offers legal support on all corporate acquisitions or sales, as well as collaborative R&D investments. Sarah advises on licences, supply, distribution, and manufacturing agreements, specialist tender bids with a technology or IP focus, privacy notices and any data protection matters.
Personally, I love innovation and embrace the use of new technology to achieve change. Understanding these areas means I can really support my clients with their expansion plans and know how best to protect their IP rights when doing so.
– Sarah
Sarah and Stephen are relatively recent recruits to the Commercial team which has seen significant expansion in the last 12 months. They both love working with our smaller and savvier business clients seeking to break into larger more lucrative markets.
Partner, Chidem Aliss who has over 15 years’ experience in the firm, advises on all types of commercial contracts and projects including trading agreements, supply of services, agency distribution and IT matters like software licensing and website work. She heads our Franchise team and is regularly instructed to advise on franchise agreements, manuals, and other documents.
This is the biggest Commercial team our firm has had and with this comes the capacity to work on bigger projects… I’m really excited about the future.
– Chidem
Other key members of the team include:
- Partner, Amy Peacey specialises in advising businesses on all commercial contract matters spanning from family-run businesses to large well-known retail organisations. Amy focuses on social housing and telecommunication and fibre optic contracts amongst others.
- Associate, Rebecca Hallam advises on a wide range of commercial agreements with an array of legal experience working with start-ups, SMEs, and large groups of companies. Rebecca offers practical and timely business-focused advice.
- John Irving works with our team as a consultant and offers a wealth of experience as a mainstream commercial contract lawyer across a spectrum of business ventures and transactions.
How does the Commercial & IP team at Clarke Willmott support its clients’ legal needs?
Commercial is such a wide area of law – like oil in your car – we go across everything….and ensure it all runs smoothly.
– Sarah
Our clients count on us to translate their commercial needs into watertight legal contracts. We keep to affordable hourly rates reflecting the economic climate without losing the calibre of the advice provided. We utilise the relationships we have in the firm and ensure all your legal needs are catered for. We work closely with the Corporate team so that if a client needs support on a merger, sale or acquisition, a review of their employment contracts, help with an investment, to defend an infringement of their IP or manage an overdue debt we can work with our colleagues to make sure everyone is kept in the loop and ensure a smooth process for our clients.
With the array of expertise in our team, we further provide our clients with the benefit of sector knowledge across a range of industries and sectors including technology, agriculture, retail & leisure, social housing, transport and manufacturing.
Our expertise allows us to deliver exceptional client service and utilise our relationships throughout the firm to cater to all your legal needs. In turn we aim to be viewed as a valued and trusted legal advisor for you and your business.
What makes us stand out?
Our team have a variety of specialised lawyers who have been exposed to different legal experiences. This allows us to react quickly and efficiently to a client’s request with all the resources and knowledge to complete the task.
– Chidem
We have the modern and high calibre legal skills and experience to help you navigate and understand the variety of commercial decisions that your business needs to make every day. We seek long-standing and consistent client relationships by providing all round quality legal care, on point advice and cost-effective support across a plethora of services.
One of Clarke Willmott’s strengths is our depth and breadth of expertise. For example, our Commercial Litigation team handle all contentious matters for our clients, identifying where contractual disputes might arise and advising on situations like recovering outstanding payments, trademark, or patent infringement. We use these different specialist areas and collaborate to achieve the best possible outcome for our clients.
We have a very broad skillset. The team has worked with some of the biggest names and brands, as well as the smaller SMEs. Coupled with previous in-house experience we really have all bases covered.
– Stephen
Contact our commercial & IP team today
Our specialist solicitors are based across the UK with offices in Bristol, Manchester, Southampton, Cardiff, Taunton, London, and Birmingham. We provide advice to businesses nationwide with a truly global outlook.
Call for a free initial consultation today on 0800 652 8025 or get in touch online.
Posted:
