He was formerly a partner of Bird & Bird in London, where he was head of the international electronics sector group.
Heaney (right) specialises in contentious work in patent, copyright and related areas.
He has acted in cases including Microsoft v Motorola, LG Electronics v Sony, HTC v Nokia and Halliburton v Smith International.
He worked as a software and electronic engineer before qualifying as a solicitor in 1998.
