Kate Hawkins
Kate Hawkins is an experienced advertising lawyer who joined the advertising law team in May 2019 from the marketing law team within the General Counsel's office at Telefonica UK (O2).
At O2, she assisted the marketing directorate with advertising and consumer law issues, intellectual property (IP) rights and brand protection and strategy.
Kate's practice now includes advising local and international clients from a range of sectors, including the retail, food and drink and automotive industries. Kate provides advice on all aspects of advertising and marketing law to household-name brands, including advice on greenwashing, copy clearance, promotions, partnerships and influencer marketing and the defence of complaints to the advertising regulator (the ASA), for clients including Volkswagen Group brands, Dollar Shave Club and Premier Foods.
Kate has recently completed a secondment to the Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (OC), where she was Brand Protection Manager responsible for the OC's anti-ambush marketing program. This role involved working closely with various teams within the OC to develop, exploit and enforce their brand and marketing rights, as well as advising on all other advertising law matters (e.g. ambush marketing and infringement attempts, the OC's ticketing campaign, sustainability messaging, the launch and promotion of Perry, the Games mascot).
Kate has continued to work closely with the OC since returning from secondment, providing advice on the advertising and trading measures put in place by the Government, clearing marketing claims and providing advice on campaigns and assisting with preparation for brand protection during Games time.