The global law firm Jones Day has announced the arrival of Cristiana Spontoni as a partner in the Health Care & Life Sciences Practice in the Firm's Brussels Office. Katherine Llewellyn also joined Jones Day as associate in the same practice.
Ms. Spontoni is a well-known life sciences practitioner, advising in a broad range of areas, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. She guides clients through the pre-market phase, including clinical trials and pre-market authorizations, to post-market issues including product liability, marketing and advertising, wholesale distribution, and compliance (including data privacy and anti-bribery). She also regularly handles safety and compliance issues for a large variety of consumer products manufacturers, including with regard to product regulation, crisis management (e.g., recalls), and marketing/advertising/claims matters.
In her areas of focus, Ms. Spontoni frequently manages and coordinates multi-jurisdictional assignments and provides comprehensive one-stop-shop analysis and solutions for cross-border regulatory issues affecting clients' operations. She has advised on projects in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Spontoni spent two years with the Council of the European Union and the European Commission in Brussels. She also served at the Italian Attorney General's Office (Avvocatura Generale dello Stato), where she focused on EU law and participated to the defense of the Italian State before the EU Courts in Luxembourg.
Ms. Llewellyn also brings rare and valuable experience to the life sciences team given her dual background in law and science. She is qualified as a UK solicitor and also holds a degree in genetics.
"We are very pleased to have Cristiana and Katherine join us in Brussels, where they will further build on, in particular, the EU and international dimension of Jones Day's vibrant health care, life sciences, and food and drug presence, which is globally expanding. We are delighted with this latest expansion in our office's offering to clients, which was already boosted earlier this year with the arrival of Ursula Schliessner and her team focusing on environmental and product regulation in the area of chemicals (REACH), food, and consumer products." said Bernard Amory, Partner-in-Charge of the Brussels Office. "Combining such diversified practices enables us to offer our clients a comprehensive set of services in vital areas of EU regulation," he added.
Health Care & Life Sciences Practice Leader James Dutro added, "Cristiana offers a superb range of experience in life sciences and government regulation, with the tremendous added value of giving end to end service to clients, as well as the insights that she brings from her previous service within the European institutions and with the Attorney General's Office in Italy. She is an important addition to our thriving global life sciences team."
Ms. Spontoni was the exclusive winner (for the second consecutive year) of the ILO Client Choice Award 2014 for Healthcare & Life Sciences in the European Union. She is long-recognized in Legal 500 EMEA, where she is described as "'a real star', 'great to work with', and has 'detailed industry knowledge'." Recently, the inaugural LMG Europe Life Sciences Stars list recognized Ms. Spontoni for her broad-ranging expertise in the field. She is also recognized as a leading life sciences lawyer in The International Who's Who of Life Sciences Lawyers 2013 and recognized in The International Who's Who of Environment Lawyers 2012.
Ms. Spontoni is a graduate of the University of Rome I (La Sapienza) (J.D., summa cum laude). She also received an LL.M. in European Studies from the European College of Parma, under full scholarship. She is admitted to the Rome and Brussels (EU-list) Bars, and speaks English, French, and Italian.
"We are delighted to join such an impressive and geographically diverse group of colleagues. With its first class practitioners and solid professional values, as well as the strong emphasis on the One Firm Worldwide approach, Jones Day perfectly matches the sophisticated needs of our global clients. We look forward to many years of collective success together," said Ms. Spontoni.
Jones Day is a global law firm with 41 offices in major centers of business and finance throughout the world
