Katrina Crooks enhances the firm's already busy litigation practice
Intellectual property specialist Spruson & Ferguson has welcomed one of Australia’s top IP litigation lawyers, Katrina Crooks, as its newest principal. She will be based in the Sydney office.
Crooks brings 25 years of IP experience to her role, having worked in full-service commercial law firms and IP boutique firms in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. For her work, she has been recognised as a top IP litigator in professional ranking publications like IAM Patent 1000, Doyle’s Guide and WIPR Australia Patent and Trade Mark Leaders.
Prior to joining Spruson & Ferguson, Crooks was most recently a principal at Shelston IP, an IPH member firm that integrated with Spruson & Ferguson in late 2021.
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“Spruson & Ferguson is a pre-eminent Australian IP firm offering tailored IP service offerings to its clients from around the globe,” Crooks said. “I am excited to rejoin this network and work together with the deep talent at Spruson & Ferguson to provide holistic IP solutions for our clients as well as having the opportunity for our clients to take advantage of the leading technical expertise of our patent attorneys in litigation matters.”
Beyond her main line of work, Crooks is also a qualified patent attorney and a member of the IP Committee of the Australian Law Council and the Trans-Tasman Committee of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand.
Her recent appointment will bring Spruson & Ferguson’s legal practice to eight principals and three special counsel, cementing the firm’s reputation as having one of the highest number of senior IP legal specialists in the Australian market. The legal practice is also able to draw on the IP expertise of another 36 principals and special counsel in the firm’s Australian patent and trade mark attorney practice.
“We see Katrina rejoining the IPH group as a significant mark of our success in creating a dynamic and rewarding workplace, with exposure to some of the best work in the country, alongside Australia’s largest patent attorney practice,” said Chris Bevitt, national head of legal practice at Spruson & Ferguson.
New associate Elizabeth-Erin Valassakis also joined Crooks in the Sydney office last week, arriving from Corrs Chamber Westgarth.