Norton Rose grows IP practice with strategic lateral hire
5 October 2011

• Intellectual property (IP) specialist Frances Drummond joins Norton Rose Australia from Freehills
• Drummond is Norton Rose’s 21st lateral partner hire since the firm’s global integration with Norton Rose Group in January 2010

Norton Rose Australia has today announced the appointment of Frances Drummond, an experienced intellectual property (IP) lawyer who joins from Freehills.

She has a broad skill base in both contentious and non contentious trade mark matters including front end trade mark portfolio management, advisory, transactional and disputes, as well as experience working for several leading Australian and international companies.

Don Boyd, Deputy Chief Executive, Norton Rose Group  said: “Intellectual property is an important practice group to Norton Rose Group and an area of service required by many of our clients across key areas of expertise including energy, financial institutions, mining and commodities, transport, technology and pharmaceuticals. Frances is a leader in this field and her knowledge and experience will add significantly to our service offering to clients.”

Drummond’s appointment follows that of Jackie O’Brien earlier this year, a former partner at Allens Arthur Robinson who joined Norton Rose’s IP practice in Sydney.

Drummond has previously worked in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong, where she worked as a partner and solicitor at Norton Rose Australia’s predecessor firm Deacons, from 1995 to 2000.

Recent lateral appointments to Norton Rose Australia include:

• Vincent Dwyer, former partner at Gilbert and Tobin, joined the Corporate team as head of Energy in Sydney
• Ernest van Buuren, former partner at Blake Dawson joined the Transport team in Brisbane
• Petar Kuessner, ex-Mallesons Stephen Jaques, joined the Banking & Finance team in Sydney
• Derek La Ferla, rejoined the Corporate team in Perth
• Peter Borg, former partner at Pinsent Masons (Hong Kong), joined the Construction & Engineering team in Brisbane
• Robert Milbourne, ex General Counsel and Company Secretary of Vale Australia Pty Ltd, joined the Energy & Resources team in Brisbane
• Gerard Breen, ex-Dibbs Barker partner joined the Restructuring & Insolvency team in Sydney
• Herman Yip, former partner at Jones Day (Singapore), joined the Banking and Finance team in Perth
• Alex Cull, joined the corporate practice in Perth from Singapore
• Susandarini, a corporate lawyer and former partner at Soewito Suhardiman Eddymurthy Kardono, is the Managing Partner of the Indonesian law firm Susandarini & Partners. Norton Rose has an association with Susandarini & Partners
• Jackie O’Brien, former partner at Allens Arthur Robinson, joined the IP practice in Sydney
• Anthony Latimer, ex Corrs, joined the Corporate team in Sydney
• Natalie Breen, former senior in-house counsel at Challenger, joined the Real Estate team in Singapore
• Jeremy Wickens, formerly with Freehills, joined the corporate practice in Perth.
• John Moutsopoulos, formerly of Clayton Utz, joins the corporate practice in Sydney
• Zein El Hassan, formerly of Clayton Utz, joins the corporate practice in Sydney.
• Paul Humphreys, formerly of Clayton Utz, joins the corporate practice in Sydney
• Tessa Hoser, formerly General Counsel at Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, joins the banking  practice in Sydney  

For further information please contact:

Samantha Magnusson, head of corporate communications, Norton Rose Australia
Tel: +61 2 9330 8138; Mob: +61 434 116 696
samantha.magnusson@nortonrose.com

Teneille Rennick, senior communications advisor, Norton Rose Australia
Tel: +61 2 9330 8926
teneille.rennick@nortonrose.com

Notes for editors:

Norton Rose Australia is a member of Norton Rose Group, a leading international legal practice offering a full business law service to many of the world’s pre-eminent financial institutions and corporations from offices in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada, Africa and the Middle East.
The Group’s lawyers share industry knowledge and sector expertise across borders to support clients anywhere in the world. The Group is strong in financial institutions; energy; infrastructure, mining and commodities; transport; technology and innovation; and pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Norton Rose Group has more than 2600 lawyers operating from 39 offices in Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Brussels, Calgary, Canberra, Cape Town, Dubai, Durban, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, Milan, Montréal, Moscow, Munich, Ottawa, Paris, Perth, Piraeus, Prague, Québec, Rome, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Warsaw; and from associate offices in Dar es Salaam, Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta.
Norton Rose Group comprises Norton Rose LLP, Norton Rose Australia, Norton Rose OR LLP, Norton Rose South Africa (incorporated as Deneys Reitz Inc), and their respective affiliates.