Heuking brings in partner trio and team from Taylor Wessing

Taylor Wessing’s renowned equity partners Manja Epping (57) and Stefanie Greifeneder (49) as well as one salary partner and their associate team are to expand Heuking’s advisory offering in pharmaceuticals, biotech and medical devices. All three partners will become equity partners at Heuking.

As a result, the practice group, which is largely based in Munich and Düsseldorf, will grow by around a third as of 1 September. The new team means Heuking will be able to fully cover the life sciences sector. Heuking’s managing partner Boris Dürr says, “We had a need in this area and had been looking for a suitable team for some time.”

Until now, the firm had to call in specialised boutiques to cover medical law aspects outside of healthcare advice. Treptow says, “This completes the range of advice offered by our healthcare and life sciences practice group.”

Boost to Heuking

Epping and Greifeneder specialise in regulatory issues relating to clinical trials, approval, manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Licence agreements and research and development cooperations are also among their areas of expertise.

Greifeneder frequently advises spin-offs and start-ups. Epping, who enjoys long-standing renowned in the market, also conducts litigation at the interface of regulatory and IP.

Both regularly provide regulatory advice in M&A transactions. At Heuking, they encounter a strong capital markets practice that advises SMEs in particular, but is also active in the private equity and venture capital segments.

Interplay with patent practice

Epping has worked closely with Taylor Wessing’s IP group in the past, including its strong patent litigation practice. Epping will now also work with Heuking’s mixed patent litigation practice, which is headed by Düsseldorf partner Anton Horn.

It comprises five lawyers and two patent attorneys. It works for Heuking’s typical clientele, including many technology-driven German SMEs.

The patent team has not been particularly prominent in pharmaceutical cases to date. That is now set to change, with advice at the interface between the patent and regulatory aspects of the industry. Law firms such as Hogan Lovells and Freshfields have advised on this for some time.

Shared past

For Epping and Greifeneder this will be the third time they have worked at the same firm, having both started their careers at Ashurst. Epping moved from Ashurst to Taylor Wessing as a partner in 2010. After her time at Ashurst, Greifeneder spent time at various firms including Dentons, before joining Fieldfisher in 2013 and then Taylor Wessing in 2023.

The departures are a significant blow for Taylor Wessing. However, the firm can build on a traditionally large staff base within the practice group, which still comprises around 30 lawyers, including eight equity partners. Nevertheless, the firm aims to compensate for the losses as quickly as possible. (Co-author: Martin Neumann)