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09 March 2026
Categories: Movers & Shakers , Profession
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EIP—Catherine Howell

IP firm promotes first home-grown litigation partner
EIP has promoted Catherine Howell to partner, marking a milestone as she becomes the firm’s first home-grown litigation partner. She joined the firm as a trainee solicitor in 2015 and has progressed through its litigation practice, most recently serving as managing associate.

An IP solicitor, Howell has experience across proceedings in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, as well as multi-jurisdictional patent litigation. Her practice focuses on FRAND and SEP disputes, technical patent litigation and strategic advice on jurisdiction and confidentiality, and she has acted in cases including Unwired Planet v Huawei & Samsung and Optis v Apple.

Chief executive officer Magnus Hallin said: ‘Cat’s progression from trainee to partner is a proud moment for the firm’ and that she ‘represents the very best of EIP’s litigation practice.’ Head of litigation Andrew Sharples added: ‘Cat has made an invaluable contribution to some of the most complex and influential patent cases of the last decade.’

Howell is recommended in Legal 500 and has been named a ‘Rising Star’ by Managing IP for six consecutive years, reflecting her standing within the IP community.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Bellevue Law—Lianne Craig

Workplace law firm expands commercial disputes team with senior consultant hire

EIP—Rob Barker

EIP—Rob Barker

IP firm promotes patent attorney to partner

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Muckle LLP—Ryan Butler

Banking and restructuring team bolstered by insolvency specialist

NEWS
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Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
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A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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