The move by Cooley was no surprise, and lawyers at the firm said on Monday that the legal work from new technology and media companies in the greater Los Angeles region has been multiplying in recent years.
One of the leading partners who joined Cooley for the Santa Monica office is David Hernand. He is the co-chair of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s media, entertainment, and technology practice group. Hernand is also known to have co-founded previously the venture and technology practice group of Latham & Watkins. He had led the group in Latham & Watkins from 2002 to 2007.
David would be serving as partner-in-charge for Cooley’s new office and he said the new firm would offer billing rates for emerging companies, which are more flexible than what is currently offered by Gibson Dunn. He said, “There is more of an entrepreneurial attitude among Cooley attorneys than I have seen at other firms.”
A Gibbon Dunn spokeswoman said, “We wish him well.”
The three other partners joining Cooley’s new office include David Young, the chair of DLA Piper’s corporate and finance group in Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix; Christopher Shoff, also from DLA Piper; and Jennifer Massey, another well-known technology and entertainment specialist from the Los Angeles firm Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein & Kohner.
Young would be serving as the head of the office’s business and technology practice group. He said that the office would be adding another group of partners including some patent litigators.