JD Journal » san francisco law firms

Five Attorneys from Bingham McCutchen Move to Perkins Coie in San Francisco

aostler — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 23:43:37 +0000

Five land use attorneys have now been added to Perkins Coie and have become a part of its Environment, Energy, and Resources practice. This week the San Francisco office gained partners Matt Gray, Barbara Schussman, Geoff Robinson, and Cecily Barclay, as well as Of Counsel Steve Kostka, all formerly part of Bingham McCutchen.

Tom Lindley, Environment, Energy and Resources Chair, said “We have expanded our national energy, environment and resources capabilities by adding California’s premier CEQA, NEPA, land use and development group.”

Gray has been focused on defending and securing entitlements for redevelopment on waterfront areas, as well as urban and retail projects that are mixed use. Land use, CEQA, and NEPA advice and defense to any public or private group which is working on development for energy, institutional, and infrastructure projects is what Schussman brings to the table. Robinson has worked with zoning and planning law, getting financing for public facilities, and administration and civil proceedings. Barclay is great in helping agencies and developers navigate in entitlement projects that are very complex. And when it comes to the California Environmental Quality Act, Kostka is the leading expert in the field. Collectively, they have worked on many development projects that are very high profile in the state of California.

Says Tom Lindley about these new additions to the firm and what their impact will be, “Our new colleagues bring even greater depth to the services that we provide our clients.”

King & Spalding Add 14 From Filice Brown

joshua — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 16:54:14 +0000

Fourteen litigators from Oakland’s Filice Brown Eassa & McLeod have joined King & Spalding. The group is led by named partner Gennero Filice and includes a total of three partners, four counsel and seven associates. The move will double King & Spalding’s San Francisco office, while cutting Filice Brown (now known as Brown Eassa & McLeod) almost in half.

All 14 will be assigned to the San Francisco office, but two of the associates will continue to work in Los Angeles. The team of lawyers specializes in groundwater litigation, representing chemical companies, dry cleaners and other industries that impact groundwater. The move is part of a King & Spalding plan to have a west coast litigation team that can take a case from discovery to appeal all in house.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:06:45 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Wednesday, September 29th. Here’s a quick recap of yesterday’s stories.

Orrick and Akin Gump began merger talks…

Greenberg Traurig added two attorneys to its Corporate and Securities practice…

The Florida Supreme Court declined U.S. Rep Alan Grayson’s request to halt the foreclosures being handled by three South Florida law firms under investigation…

Orrick and Akin Gump in Merger Talks

ashley — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:42:07 +0000

Mergers between large law firms are becoming more and more common lately. Following the trend, firms Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP are in talks of a merger which have been called by representatives on both sides “preliminary.”

Founded in 1863 in San Francisco, Orrick has striven to build relationships with its clients and develop a solid basis for its firm. Orrick is now a worldwide law firm with 22 different offices and over 1,100 lawyers.

Akin Gump has been around since 1945. The firm is one of the world’s largest and has also spanned the globe with 14 offices and more than 800 lawyers. Akin Gump has offices across the United States, Switzerland, England, Russia, China, and The United Arab Emirates.

This is not the first merger talk that Orrick has been a part of, though a merger of Orrick and Akin Gump would create a global firm that would be comprised of over 1,740 attorneys.

Sidley Austin Adds Two Partners to San Francisco Office

joshua — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:52:14 +0000

Sidley Austin announced Wednesday that it’s expanding its San Francisco office with the addition of two partners to its hedge fund practice. Set to join the firm later this month are Mark Whatley and David Tang.

According to a firm press release, the pair has extensive experience representing hedge funds and other investment clients. They will focus on fund formation and maintenance, and investment adviser formation, regulation and compliance.

“We are extremely pleased to have such talented lawyers as Mark and David joining us,” said Sharon Flanagan, managing partner of Sidley’s San Francisco office. “Their practices are an excellent fit and have strong synergies with our growing practices in San Francisco and Palo Alto.”

Whatley concentrates his practice on securities regulation and transactional and business counseling matters, with a particular focus on investment management and broker-dealer regulation. Tang focuses his practice on securities regulation, private investment fund formation, mergers and acquisitions and public and private debt and equity offerings.

Sidley’s investment funds, advisers and derivatives practice consists of more than 120 lawyers in Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo.

DLA Piper Adds Two Partners to San Francisco Office

joshua — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 23:49:50 +0000

Today, DLA Piper announced Paul J. Hall and Todd C. Toral have joined the firm’s Litigation practice as partners in the San Francisco office.

They join from Nixon Peabody LLP. There, Hall was leader of the national Financial Institutions Litigation Team. Toral was deputy practice group leader for the Commercial Litigation practice and a member of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department.

At DLA Piper, Hall will focus on the representation of financial institutions in class action, wage and hour, and ERISA matters. Toral will focus on finance, workout and insolvency matters.

In today’s press release at PR Newswire, Robert J. Mathias, joint global leader and US chair of DLA Piper’s Litigation practice was quoted as saying: “Paul and Todd have each developed successful and growing practices, both of which supplement and expand our class action and financial institution representation capabilities in Northern California and nationally. Their deep pool of contacts and client relationships are extraordinary and will be invaluable as we continue to grow and diversify the practice.”

Hall focuses his practice primarily on class actions involving financial institutions. He has significant trial experience in a wide variety of areas, including lender liability, corporate acquisitions, and unfair competition.

Todd Toral is a commercial litigator with a particular focus on investment partnerships, finance, tax disputes, and unlawful business practices claims. His litigation experience includes serving as restructuring counsel to national and international banks and syndicators concerning investments in tax credit projects.

DLA Piper has 3,500 attorneys in 30 countries and 69 offices throughout the US, UK, Continental Europe, Middle East and Asia. The firm offers a wide range of global services as well as hundreds of additional services in individual markets to address its clients’ business needs.

Sidley Austin Names New Managing Partner in San Francisco

joshua — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:32:59 +0000

Sidley Austin LLP announced that Sharon R. Flanagan, a partner in the firm’s corporate practice, has been appointed managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office. Flanagan succeeds Paul Pringle, a capital markets partner, who served as the office’s Managing Partner since 2003.

Flanagan’s corporate practice includes mergers & acquisitions, securities offerings and corporate governance matters. She has worked on major transactions for clients such as eBay, Genentech and KKR Financial.

Many of Flanagan’s recent deals have been cross-border transactions involving companies in Asia and the E.U. Flanagan had been the hiring partner for the Sidley Austin’s San Francisco office since 2004.

“Sharon played a central role in the strategic planning and implementation of the opening of Sidley’s Palo Alto office in late 2009,” said Anne E. Rea, the member of Sidley’s Management Committee responsible for its West Coast offices. “As Managing Partner of the San Francisco office, Sharon will continue Sidley’s expansion in Northern California.

Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms, with approximately 1,700 lawyers practicing in 17 U.S. and international cities.

Spillane Weingarten LLP Announces Opening of San Francisco Office

joshua — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:53:11 +0000

Today, Spillane Weingarten LLP announced the opening of its new San Francisco office at 199 Fremont Street. The firm is devoted exclusively to business litigation.

According to today’s article at dbusinesswire.com, Jay Spillane, co-founder of the firm was quoted as saying: “A San Francisco office allows us to provide superior service to our clients doing business in Northern California. Moreover, Silicon Valley was built through the efforts of middle market companies that have been our typical clients. We are excited to have this platform to service the needs of our existing clients in the Bay Area, and look forward to using this opportunity to aggressively grow our Firm.”

According to the same article, partner and co-founder Alex Weingarten was quoted as saying: “Opening an office in San Francisco is a recognition of our already existing strong presence in Northern California. Both Jay and I have long standing personal and professional relationships in the Bay Area and having an office in San Francisco allows us to better service the needs of our clients across California.”

Spillane Weingarten LLP, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, is especially well known for litigating and trying matters in the fields of entertainment, media and intellectual property. The firm is also experienced in corporate, real estate, finance and trust litigation.

Sidley Austin Continues San Francisco Expansion

joshua — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:25:36 +0000

M. Patricia Thayer has joined the San Francisco office of Sidley Austin as a partner in its intellectual property litigation practice. The move comes as part of Sidley’s ongoing expansion in Northern California. Currently, more than 50 lawyers work out of the San Francisco office.

“We are significantly expanding the scope of Sidley’s legal services in Northern California, including in San Francisco and in our new office in Palo Alto,” said Anne E. Rea, head of Sidley’s West Coast offices. “Patty is a well-known patent trial lawyer who will enhance our strong IP litigation team and further position us to serve biotech, health information technology and medical device clients, as well as information technology clients.”

The new Palo Alto office serves information technology, clean tech, biotech, health information technology and medical device clients.

Sidley Austin is one of the world’s largest full-service law firms with approximately 1,700 lawyers practicing in 17 cities worldwide.

Crowell & Moring Pick up Half of Folger Levin & Kahn in San Francisco

joshua — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:58:08 +0000

Last weekwe told you that Crowell & Moring were being hush hush about rumors the firm was prepared to merge with Folger Levin & Kahn. It turns out it wasn’t quite a merger. 29 of the 56 lawyers at Folger’s San Francisco office have signed on with Crowell & Moring, including name partner Michael Kahn, and have expanded the west coast presence for their new firm. The remaining attorneys are forming a new Folger Levin. Most of the firm’s LA lawyers are dispersing to other firms, but four of them are joining Crowell & Moring’s existing LA office.

Crowell & Moring is headquartered in Washington DC, with offices in Irvine, New York City, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, and now San Francisco.

Crowell & Moring – No Comment on Merger Rumors

joshua — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:09:14 +0000

Is Crowell & Moring in negotiations to merge with Folger Levin & Kahn? That’s the buzz, but the firm’s response has been noncommittal. Folger, which is based out of San Francisco and has an additional office in Los Angeles, has several overlapping practice groups and is in keeping with Crowell’s strategy for long term growth, which includesseeking opportunities to acquire smaller firms. With 56 attorneys and a client list including Citibank, Johnson & Johnson, and Hilton Hotels, Folger would appear to fit the bill nicely.

Littler Mendelson Opens in Albuquerque

joshua — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:23:22 +0000

Littler Mendelson, the San Francisco based employment and labor law firm, has opened its 48th domestic office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The office will be led by shareholder Jay Sumner. Also moving to the new office will be shareholders Fred Miner and Shawn Oller.

With more than 750 attorneys and 48 offices, Littler Mendelson is the largest US law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in employment and labor law matters. Established in 1942, the firm has litigated, mediated and negotiated some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record.

Singer Deutsch to Open San Francisco office

joshua — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:30:48 +0000

Singer Deutsch announced that has opened a San Francisco office inside the Bank of America Center. This is the third office for the firm, which already has offices in New York and Los Angeles. The San Francisco office will be led by named partner John Singer.

Singer Deutsch was formed in 2003 by John Singer and Michael Deutsch.