Nicola Dagg, one of Lovells' rising IP stars, has made the unexpected move to rival UK firm Allen & Overy.
The news came as a surprise to the IP team at Lovells. Allen & Overy appointed Dagg last week and officially announced the decision today, giving Lovells just enough time to email the news to its partners last Friday.
"This was a surprise and to be frank we are very disappointed, because we thought we had given her every opportunity she needed to develop in our IP practice," said Fenella Gentleman, director of public relations at Lovells.
Speaking to MIP Week, Dagg described her move as a "real opportunity to be working at a cracking IP firm". She will take on the role of lead IP litigator at Allen & Overy.
"There's lots of juicy IP stuff out there, especially on the patent side and it's the right opportunity for someone with good patent litigation experience," said Dagg.
Adding that it is hard leaving Lovells and a very supportive team after all these years, Dagg said: "I've been a partner at Lovells for three years and now feel at a level where I have done top notch patent litigation work and can go forward with this knowledge."
Dagg, who trained and qualified at Lovells and was appointed a partner in 2003, soon became a well-known name in the IP market, in particular for her skills in technical patent litigation in the high-tech and life sciences industries. Most recently she worked on the high-profile BlackBerry case in the UK.
Describing Allen & Overy's client base as stronger than Lovells' from a corporate perspective Dagg said she is excited about the chance to tap into this client base and "make things fly".
Gentleman described Dagg as "a bright spark" who has been given a significant role in developing Lovells' IP business.
Allen & Overy's Geert Glas, head of the firm's global IP practice, said in a statement: "Nicola's appointment is an important one for our global IP practice. She has an excellent market reputation that complements our highly rated pan-European IP practice."
Her departure leaves Lovells with five IP partners in London and 25 IP partners internationally. Elections of new partners will take place at the end of this month. "It's very much a case of watch this space," said Gentleman.
David Harris, Lovells' managing partner, expressed his firm's disappointment, but added: "Her departure will not affect the development of our award-winning IP practice, which remains very strong. We do all we can to ensure that individual contributions are recognized, but you can't give everyone a formal leadership role. On occasions a younger partner is tempted by offers from the competition to take a lead role in developing a practice, as has happened here."
The exact date of Dagg's departure from Lovells, which might include a gardening leave period, is still being negotiated.
