Women in IP Annual Event
A Decade of Development: Navigating The Career Journey after a Period of Absence
Wednesday 18 November 2026
London, online and regional events around the UK
This year’s annual event is kindly being hosted by Carpmaels & Ransford in London (1 Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HA), with a live link to regional hosts around the UK, as well as online. A panel of speakers will discuss the different challenges encountered when facing and returning from, a period of absence from work, whether it be planned or unplanned. This will include by way of example, absences due to parental leave, ill health, caring responsibilities, and sabbatical, both from the perspective of the individual taking leave, as well as those of colleagues, particularly HR and managers.
 The panel will discuss how policies have changed over the last 10 years, as well as areas for continued development, together with practical ideas and suggestions for ongoing improvements. There will be opportunity for questions following the panel discussion, as well as networking over refreshments both at Carpmaels’ office, and at those of the regional hosts.
Timings
 Registration from 5.30 pm
Panel Discussion 6.00 – 7.00 pm
Questions and Refreshments 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Meet the Panel
Duncan Boanas-Evans
Duncan Boanas-Evans is a Patent Counsel at Eli Lilly, where he has global responsibility for IP strategy on several key assets across immunology and neuroscience.
 Duncan trained at Carpmaels & Ransford and then spent five years at Kilburn & Strode. Before moving into IP, he studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and completed a PhD at Imperial College’s MRC Clinical Sciences Centre.
 Duncan’s son was born a few months before he took on his current role at Lilly, so he knows firsthand what it’s like to balance parental leave around career challenges.
Gemma Ewen
Gemma Ewen works in marketing and business development at Bristows, where she supports the firm’s communications and wider business development activities.
Alongside her career, Gemma has navigated the challenges of balancing work with caring for her son, Finley, following a life-changing brain injury. Her experience of maternity leave, carers’ leave and sick leave has given her first-hand insight into the realities of managing a career while caring for a child with complex needs, and the impact that workplace policies and support can have on working parents.
Gemma is passionate about raising awareness of the challenges faced by working carers and the importance of creating more understanding, flexible and supportive workplaces.
Chloe Flower
Chloe Flower is a Partner, European Patent Attorney and Chartered Patent Attorney at Mewburn Ellis, specialising in medical devices, materials science and chemical engineering. She advises clients on patent strategy, prosecution and disputes, helping innovative businesses protect and grow their intellectual property. As a mother of two highly energetic boys, Chloe has firsthand experience of balancing family leave with a demanding professional career. She has also helped develop Mewburn Ellis’ internal guidance for colleagues preparing for and returning from family leave, drawing on both her personal and professional perspectives. Passionate about supporting working parents, Chloe is committed to fostering inclusive workplaces where people can thrive at every stage of their careers.
Cassandra Hill
Cassie is an IP and commercial litigation partner at Mishcon de Reya and heads up the firm’s IP Enforcement group. She works across diverse industries and sectors, and, with over 18 years’ experience, she combines her deep legal expertise in contentious IP with her passion for protecting people’s creations. She has extensive injunctive experience which sets her apart and a gratifying moment in her career was obtaining the first blocking injunction of its kind in respect of circumvention of technological protection measures for a global gaming company.
 Cassie is a mum to a very energetic little boy. She has had periods of leave after the birth of her child and due to chronic illness. She is passionate about EDI and wellbeing in the IP professions and helping women succeed, and be in leadership roles.  She is a member of the Women in IP Career Guidance focus group and is on the IP Ability committee.
Tamsin Holman
Tamsin’s practice involves predominantly contentious IP matters, with an emphasis on enforcement and infringement of trade marks, design rights, copyright, domain names, database rights, trade secrets/confidential information, as well as licensing disputes, matters involving ex-employees and anti-counterfeiting work. She acts for UK and international clients in a variety of sectors, including publishing, entertainment, leisure and fashion, FMCG, luxury goods, IT, finance and life sciences.
Tamsin practised as a barrister for five years at specialist IP chambers prior to qualifying as a solicitor and joining a leading City firm. She joined D Young & Co in 2011, to establish the firm’s litigation practice. Whilst joining this panel predominantly from her perspective of having taken a sabbatical, Tamsin has also experienced other periods of absence at different stages in life and career, so is well placed to compare the progress made so far with areas for continued improvement.
Michelle Karim
Michelle Karim is Director of People at Carpmaels & Ransford, where she leads the People function and is responsible for the firm’s people strategy.
Having worked across HR Business Partnering, Operations and Recruitment, she has extensive experience supporting employees and leaders through key career and life stages.
As a mother of two young daughters, Michelle understands first-hand the opportunities and challenges that can come with balancing a career alongside family responsibilities, and is passionate about creating workplaces where people can thrive, develop and succeed at every stage of their journey.
Parminder Lally
Parminder is a patent attorney and a Partner at Appleyard Lees. She helps clients to patent their technological innovations, primarily those that are Physics, software or AI based. She manages a large and growing patent portfolio for a wide variety of clients, largely in the highly specialised area of AI or mathematics-heavy innovation.
She had an unplanned period of absence in 2025 when she needed emergency surgery to save her eyesight. She will share her experiences of being away from work during that time, including the concerns she had around managing her specialist work and her team, and the unexpected challenges she had after recovering.
Who is it for
This event is open to all IP professionals, regardless of gender, role or career level, including paralegals, IT specialists, marketing and finance teams, media and recruitment professionals, administrators, HR colleagues, and more. We encourage all attendees to consider inviting a colleague along, particularly someone who hasn’t been involved in IP Inclusive before.
Regional Networking Events
As well as being held in person and online, we were delighted to be able to offer you the chance to watch the panel event with a number of hosts across the country and then enjoy some refreshments and networking. We are very grateful to all our hosts, without whose support this wouldn’t be possible.
More events and registration links are being added daily, so please check back.
Cambridge
In Cambridge we are kindly hosted by Birketts.
Please click here to register for Cambridge.
Edinburgh
In Edinburgh we are kindly hosted by Burness Paull.
Please click here to register for Edinburgh.
Leeds
In Leeds we are kindly hosted by Appleyard Lees.
Please click here to register for Leeds.
Manchester
In Manchester we are kindly hosted by Hill Dickinson.
Please click here to register for Manchester.Â
Registration and cost
Book for the London in person event and the online option below. For all regional events, please use the links above.
***Please double check you are registering for the event you want to attend***
This event is free. So are all our resources. That said, we do need money to keep the show on the road, so if you are able please consider choosing a voluntary donation ticket. For more information visit our fundraising page.
Please let us know when you register if you have any accessibility requirements; we’ll do what we can to help. Please also give us advance warning if you would like to use an AI note taker.
If you are making a donation, you do not need to book a free ticket as well.
We are currently experiencing problems accepting donations via Eventbrite. If you would like to donate, please book a free ticket and donate separately via our Just Giving Page.