International law firm Reed Smith has announced the appointment of advertising law expert Marina Palomba to its partnership. Marina will join the firm’s advertising group in London on 1st March 2010 from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), where she has been Legal Director for eight years. She brings with her two associates, former colleagues at the IPA, Christopher Hackford and Huw Morris.

Marina and her team give specialist advice in all areas of advertising and marketing law and regulation including: promotions, digital content, sponsorship and celebrity rights, electronic commerce and information technology, gaming, virtual worlds, privacy, data protection, public procurement and film and television production.

Over the years Marina and her team have advised all the principal advertising agencies in the UK including Abbott Mead Vickers, JWT, McCann Erikson, M&C Saatchi and Mother. As a Director of the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice for the past eight years, the body which owns and writes the industry self regulatory Code, Marina has unique experience and knowledge of regulation and enforcement.

Stephen Edwards, partner in the media group at Reed Smith, commented:

“We want to establish the first one stop shop for advertising law and regulatory clearance on an international platform. Reed Smith already enjoys a substantial reputation for its expertise in advertising and marketing law in the UK and US and with Marina and her team's unique experience in the UK, the firm sees an opportunity to support its clients in all their most significant business environments.”

Marina Palomba added:

“We are delighted to be joining Reed Smith and are very excited by the prospect of establishing as part of our practice a fixed fee clearance service for agencies, brands and media owners on an international platform.  We know all too well that in the digital media world, brands need protecting in multiple jurisdictions. At Reed Smith we will best be able to advise and support clients not just in UK but from across the world.”

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Note to Editors:

About Christopher Hackford

Christopher was Associate Director at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. He specialises in advertising law and the provision of commercial/contractual and intellectual property advice in connection with companies’ advertising, branding and marketing activities. He has particular expertise in advising clients on contracts for the provision of advertising services in the creative, media, direct marketing, digital services, web design and hosting sectors.

About Huw Morris

Huw was Legal Associate at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. He has broad commercial/contractual experience, with particular expertise in intellectual property and sales and prize promotions.

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with 23 offices and nearly 1600 lawyers in offices across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.

For further information please visit www.reedsmith.com or contact Jeyda Star (senior branding & communications executive) on +44 (0)20 3116 2571.