Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP announces today that it will be opening an office in Palo Alto, California.

The Field Fisher Waterhouse office will open this month, run by Phil Lee, a partner in the firm’s Privacy and Information Law Group. The move is part of the firm’s strategy to focus on advising businesses that are highly regulated and those with business models driven by IP and technology.  The firm will not be providing local law advice but will use its California presence to bring its European offering closer to local clients.

Field Fisher Waterhouse has a strong reputation in the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) sector and growing expertise in life sciences.  The firm has always had a large US client base and the new office will give Field Fisher Waterhouse’s substantial list of Silicon Valley based clients easy access to the firm’s offices across Europe.

The initial focus of the new office will be to attract corporate, technology, data protection, IP, digital media and litigation work.

Nick Rose, the partner leading Field Fisher Waterhouse’s US strategy, said: “The US is a big market for us – around 25% of our revenue comes from the States and we have a growing number of multinational clients based in Silicon Valley.  Taking our leading reputation in the TMT sector to the focal point of the world’s technology industry gives us the opportunity to better service our existing client base as well as attract work from US clients who require legal advice from across our European offices.”

Phil Lee said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Field Fisher Waterhouse to play to its core strengths and be part of the most exciting and innovative technology hub in the world.  The firm acts for a wide range of technology companies, both large global organisations and emerging start-ups.  We also advise a number of “big pharma” clients as well as biotechs and medical devices companies. We will be able to target US companies considering investments in Europe and to build on our existing relationships with clients in the region.”

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