Ones to Watch UK 2024: Andrew Wells

Every year, JUVE Patent carries out extensive research in the UK patent market, culminating in the publication of the UK patent ranking. Our latest research highlighted Andrew Wells, partner at Herbert Smith Freehills, as one of five ‘Ones to Watch’ in the UK patent market for 2024. The individual Ones to Watch 2024 articles are published alphabetically by surname.

In the mid-2010s, Andrew Wells suffered a prolonged period of clinical depression and anxiety. As a young lawyer on the partner track at Herbert Smith Freehills, his immediate reaction was one of alarm. “I could see where I wanted to be, but worried that even if I recovered I would struggle to progress in my career because of the stigma,” says Wells of this time. He went on to recover, through therapy and medication, and with support from Herbert Smith Freehills throughout.

“Now that I am in the partnership, I advocate for having that mental health conversation at a senior level,” he explains. “It’s vital that colleagues in a similar position see that such experiences do not somehow disqualify you from going on to have a successful career in law.”

Aligning science and law

Graduating from the University of Cambridge with a degree in natural sciences, by 2008 Wells knew he wanted to work in an area which allowed him to keep up with trends in technology. The 37-year-old equates science and law as both concerned with, “the notion of finding a problem, examining it under certain conditions, and eventually figuring out a solution within certain constraints”. This is what drove him to seek out a training contract at the London office of Herbert Smith, as it was until 2012, and become an associate two years later at the newly minted Herbert Smith Freehills.

While Wells’ current practice focuses largely on telecommunication and technical patents, such as ongoing work for R2 Semiconductor against Intel over chipsets which he leads alongside partner Andrew Moir, a stand-out instruction in pharmaceuticals came early on in his career. Gilead was embedded in a fierce battle with Idenix over a hepatitis C drug. The firm-wide call to action came out, and Andrew Wells jumped straight in at the deep end.

He says, “The dispute took me around the world, including Canada, Australia and Norway. It involved complex legal issues, but more than that – I met colleagues and made friends that I’m still in touch with, ten years on.”

In the thick of it

Wells, it seems, is no stranger to complex legal issues, having also worked for the firm’s legacy client Roche in the highly visible litigation against Pfizer over arrow declarations. “The whole case turned on legal points,” he says. “But I love delving into the case law – it’s great to be immersed in something I find so interesting.”

Aside from his patent lawyer duties and mental health advocacy, the latter of which he also demonstrates in his capacity as the chair of HSF’s Mental Health Champion Steering Committee for the UK, US and EMEA regions, Wells is also involved in AIPPI. In 2019, the committee awarded him a prize for best contribution to the patent study question for that year, which took place in London. Towards the end of 2023, he also spent time at EPLAW in Brussels and attended the annual judges’ conference in Venice.

When he isn’t travelling or sharing his experiences of mental health through his talk ‘Mind Your Head! What I Wish I’d Known About Anxiety & Depression’, Wells enjoys gardening and spending time with his family. And, as a keen music listener, maybe this year he’ll finally find time to attend the BBC Proms. As for his future in patent, Wells hopes to combine the above while continuing to expand his patent practice to encompass every bit of science he finds interesting – namely, most of it.

Read JUVE Patent’s analysis of Herbert Smith Freehills in the JUVE Patent UK ranking 2024