London – 22 Bishopsgate
Alison Morris focuses her practice on litigation, primarily helping corporations navigate and resolve contractual and tortious disputes. With experience working on a broad range of contentious matters, Alison’s work is cross-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary. She represents clients in the financial services, insurance, telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries.
- Acted for an Irish telecommunications company in a novel damages claim valued at c. £70 million against a British multi-national telecommunications company in the Competition List of the High Court, alleging breaches of statutory duty, including under competition legislation.
- Acting for an Italian publicly-listed construction company in various anti-suit proceedings against the world’s largest fertiliser producer.
- Acting for a design services company in proceedings against its former directors for breach of covenant, misuse of confidential information and trade secrets, and solicitation of employees.
- Advised an offshore construction specialist contractor in pursuing litigation against its insurers concerning the constructive total loss of an oil platform in the North Sea*
- Acted for an international insurance broking group following claims for negligent misstatement and professional negligence brought against it by a public body*
- Advised a sports promoter on its potential claims in contract for breach of an oral JV agreement concerning the exclusive TV rights for a number of worldwide sporting events*
- Advised a UK investment management firm on a variety of legacy liabilities to customers under its professional indemnity insurance, including advising on a voluntary customer redress exercise in the Channel Islands and on a potential professional negligence claim against its former broker*
- BPP University, LLM
- University of Oxford
- England and Wales
- Higher Rights of Audience (Civil)
Elodie Pieraggi
Paris
Elodie Pieraggi focuses her practice on corporate transactions, with particular focus on mergers & acquisitions and private equity mandates. She advises French and international companies as well as managers or funds on all aspects of corporate law.
- University Paris Panthéon-Assas, Master II in Business Law & Tax
- University Paris V Descartes, Master I Business Law
- University Paris V Descartes, LLM in Anglo-American Business Law
- Paris
- English
- French
Alexander Piala
Austin
Alexander Piala, PhD, advises on a broad range of intellectual property matters, including patent litigation, patent prosecution and transaction due diligence. He has represented clients in matters involving drilling fluids, drill compacts, and other energy-sector technologies. He also has extensive experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical domains. His scientific background spans organic chemistry, biochemistry and protein structure/function relationships.
Alexander prosecutes patents across diverse technologies, including chemistry, software, electrochemistry, mechanical devices, and pharmaceuticals. He also conducts freedom-to-operate and patent portfolio analyses.
- Represented a DNA sequencing company in a patent jury trial in the District of Delaware. The favorable jury verdict, invalidating the four asserted patents, was affirmed on appeal (D. Del.) (CAFC)*
- Prosecuted drilling technology patents for a leading energy company*
- The University of Texas School of Law, JD, Molecular Biophysics, with honors, Order of the Coif
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, PhD, Chemistry
- Middle Tennessee State University, MS, Biochemistry
- Binghamton University, BS
- Texas
- US Patent and Trademark Office
- US District Court for the Western District of Texas
- US District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Kyle Sorenson, PhD
Austin
Kyle Sorenson, PhD, focuses his practice on patent litigation, patent prosecution, due diligence and licensing.
Prior to joining the Firm, Kyle conducted research in the Robson DNA Science Centre at the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute for his PhD. His research focused on protein interactions involved in DNA repair pathway choice during the repair of DNA double strand breaks.
- Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School, JD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, magna cum laude
- University of Calgary, PhD, Cellular
- University of Calgary, BS, Molecular & Microbial Biology
- Texas
- US Patent and Trademark Office
- US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Kai Grandpierre
Cologne
Kai Grandpierre focuses his practice on corporate law.
Kai studied law at the University of Münster, the University of Political Sciences and Law, Beijing, PR China and at Texas Tech School of Law in the United States. Prior to joining McDermott, Kai gained valuable experience as a trainee lawyer and research assistant at an international law firm in Cologne.
- Higher Regional Court of Cologne, Second State Examination
- University of Münster, First State Examination
- Germany
- German
- English
Anna Ciesielska
Brussels
Anna (Ania) Ciesielska focuses her practice on European data protection law, counselling clients on compliance with the requirements of EU data protection, privacy and cybersecurity legislation.
One of Ania’s previous professional experience is being part of the European Commission’s Cybersecurity & Digital Privacy Policy Unit of the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT). As a policy officer with DG CONNECT, Ania regularly contributed to the ongoing legislative processes on the ePrivacy Regulation and the European Electronic Communications Code. She also monitored the correct implementation of the ePrivacy Directive by Member States.
- Advised a global beverages company on EU data protection elements relevant to an employee Diversity & Inclusion survey in Europe*
- Assisted a global manufacturing company with filing a data breach notification in Belgium, and with coordinating the assessment, and reporting of a personal data breach in various jurisdictions outside of Europe*
- Assisted a global company with drafting an Employee Privacy Notice, and coordinating the legal review of the Notice by local counsel in Asia Pacific, including China*
- Assisted companies with drafting global intra-group data transfer and processing agreements for compliance with the EU/UK data transfer regimes, and in coordinating local counsel in Asia Pacific with providing input to such agreements*
- Assisted a number of companies with drafting privacy notices, preparing records of data processing activities, carrying out data protection impact assessments, and ensuring their compliance with other aspects of EU/UK data protection legal frameworks*
*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott
- International Institute of Communications, Member
- University of Toulouse, LL.M., ICT Law and IP
- University of Gdańsk
- Brussels
- English
- French
- Polish
Avrile Guénot
Paris
Avrile Guénot focuses her practice on litigation and dispute resolution, including post-acquisition litigation and conflicts arising between shareholders. She represents clients in both civil and commercial proceedings, handling complex mandates for companies in a variety of industries.
- Queen Mary University of London, LLM Corporate and Commercial Law
- University of Paris Panthéon-Assas, Masters II in Business Law
- University of Nanterre Paris West, Masters I in Business Law
- Paris
- English
- French
Robert Levin
Chicago
Robert Levin focuses his practice on US and international tax matters.
While in law school, he was awarded the Harry J. Rudick Memorial Award for distinction in the Tax LLM program at New York University.
- New York University School of Law, LLM, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif
- Arizona State University, JD, summa cum laude
- Arizona State University, MBA
- Arizona State University, BS
- Illinois
- Arizona
Jerônimo Soares de Sousa
New York – One Vanderbilt Avenue
Jerônimo Soares de Sousa focuses his practice on corporate and transactional matters within the energy industry. He has a particular interest in renewable energy projects and extensive experience in tax equity investments across the United States as well as experience advising clients on a wide variety of domestic and cross-border financial transactions.
- Represented Enfinity Global Inc. in its sale of a 40% minority stake of its 400 MW U.S. operating portfolio, consisting of 28 operational solar PV power plants located in California, North Carolina and Idaho, to Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc.
- Represented a leading solar and storage developer, in connection with a tax equity investment from a leading tax equity investor, in a distributed generation portfolio of commercial-scale and community solar projects being developed throughout the United States
- Represented American Electric Power Company, Inc., one of the largest investor-owned electric public utility holding companies in the United States, in negotiating the purchase agreement for the Mayapple Solar Project, a 224 MW solar project being developed by an affiliate of LightSource bp in Pulaski County, Indiana
- Câmara do Mercado – B3, arbitrator, 2021 to present
- CAMESC – Brasil – Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem de Santa Catarina, arbitrator, 2020 to present
- CAMES – Brasil – Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem Especializada, arbitrator, 2019 to present
- University of Virginia School of Law, LLM
- Universidade Federal Fluminense, LLB
- New York
- Brazil
- English
- Portuguese
- Spanish
Kishan Mistry
New York – One Vanderbilt Avenue
Kishan Mistry focuses his practice on capital markets and corporate and transactional matters including advising issuers on public offerings, private placements, corporate governance obligations and regulatory compliance.
- Represented two clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies in their initial public offerings and listing on Nasdaq*
- Represented multiple Nasdaq-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies in secondary offerings, including at-the-market offerings and confidentially marketed public offerings*
- Represented a placement agent in a private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering for a healthcare services company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and OTCQB*
- New York State Bar Association
- New Jersey State Bar Association
- South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey
- Rutgers Law School, JD, cum laude
- University of Maryland, MA, summa cum laude
- Rutgers University, BA
- New York
- New Jersey
- English
- French
- German
