DLA Piper today announced that a team of five prominent Silicon Valley lawyers will join the firm as partners. Rich Scudellari, Armando Castro and Matt Oshinsky join the Corporate and Securities Group, while David M. Lisi joins the Litigation practice and Craig P. Opperman will join the Intellectual Property Group, effective January 11. Scudellari, the senior member of the group, will also assume the role of co-office managing partner in Silicon Valley with Sang Kim, the current office managing partner.

The team represents a broad range of technology related companies at every stage of development, as well as the venture capitalists, private equity investors and investment banks that provide the funding for the emerging growth and technology communities. Collectively, the group has more than 75 years of experience practicing in the Silicon Valley offices of Morrison & Forrester, Wilson Sonsini, Brobeck, Fenwick and VLG. Prior to joining DLA Piper, the team practiced in the Palo Alto office of Reed Smith

“Rich, Armando, Matt, David and Craig are all very highly respected members of the local venture capital and technology community and their extensive knowledge of the marketplace will be an important driver in helping us expand our presence in the Valley,” said Kim. “We have just come off a great year and handled some of the most prominent technology-related deals of 2011. The addition of this team will only add to this momentum, as we look to increase our investment in the Valley in 2012 and beyond.”

The five arrivals in the Silicon Valley office highlight DLA Piper’s strategic goal to expand the depth and visibility of what is already a nationally and internationally recognized Technology practice.

“DLA Piper has the largest technology practice among the truly global firms and this team complements our global platform, matching up well with our corporate and securities practices,” said Peter Astiz, global co-chair of DLA Piper’s Technology Sector, and a partner in the Silicon Valley office. “The experience and sophistication of this team’s work representing deal-intensive technology companies around the globe will enhance our ability to expand client relationships with technology companies, entrepreneurs and the venture community.”

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