Los Angeles law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips has announced the completion of its merger with Steefel, Levitt & Weiss. Manatt’s San Francisco employees will move into Steefel’s offices, and will be managed by partner Christopher L. Wagner.

Source: www.nylwayer.com

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Winston & Strawn has announced the hiring of three intellectual property attorneys for its San Francisco branch. Glenn Westreich, Patrick Michael and Beth Mitchell all came from Nixon Peabody. All three join as partners.

Source: www.nylawyer.com

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Bingham McCutchen has added employment law partner, Walter Stella, to its San Francisco office. Joining from Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Stella brings 15 years of experience in employment litigation and counseling. There are 50 attorneys in Bingham’s labor and employment group. The San Francisco-based firm has 13 offices worldwide and over 800 lawyers.

Source: www.nylawyer.com

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Manatt, Phelps & Phillips opened a new office in San Fransisco on Monday. The new office houses 12 attorney and six professionals who previously worked for Manatt Health Solutions in Palo Alto and Los Angeles. This new office will specialize in health care, energy, land use and corporate litigation. Manatt Phelps plans to expand it’s new Bay Area office by recruiting from other local firms.

Source: bizjournals.com

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Baker & McKenzie has recruited three lawyers for its San Francisco/Palo Alto office. Victor A. Flores joins as Of Counsel in the Global Equity Services group in San Francisco. He was formerly with Latham & Watkins. Jenny C. Yeh also joins as Of Counsel from Wilson Sonsini. She will work in Palo Alto in the Corporate group. Lastly, Sharlyn Drefus joins the San Fran office as an associate in the Litigation group.

Source: www.lawfuel.com

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Bingham McCutchen’s San Francisco office has named Geoffrey Howard to be its new managing partner; firm Vice Chairman Donn Pickett had been serving de facto in the position until now. Howard aims to rebuild the office that has seen six partners and several associates leave since the beginning of the year, most recently losing antitrust practice leader Alfred Pfeiffer Jr. Few attorneys left after Bingham’s merger with McCutchen, but departures have increased this year. The majority of those who have left were litigators, a significant loss to a firm that was before a litigation powerhouse.

Source: www.nylawyer.com

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Townsend and Townsend and Crew’s new Washington, D.C. office will focus on patent litigation and patent prosecution. The mid-sized San Francisco-based IP firm will launch the new office with lawyers from Kenyon & Kenyon and McGuire Woods. Seven attorneys will open the office, but the firm hopes to grow over the next three years and eventually be able to offer full IP services there. It is beneficial for an IP firm to have an office in D.C., considering that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the International Trade Commission and the Federal Cicuit are also located there.

Source: www.law.com

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Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold picked up six real estate lawyers from the now dissolved Woo & Associates. The lawyers, who specialize in representing landlords, will join Sedgwick’s San Francisco office. Sedgwick’s real estate practice already included litigation and transactional services for a wide range of commercial real estate owners, developers, managers, lessees and professionals.

Source: www.charlotte.bizjournals.com

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Jesse Markham Jr. is leaving Morrison Foerster to join Holme Roberts & Owen in San Francisco as the antitrust team co-chair. At MoFo, Markham was the co-chair of the antitrust group for three years. His reasons for the move included lower billing rates and an opportunity to grow HRO’s practice. With the new addition, Denver-based HFO will have 19 lawyers in its San Fran office. Markham aims to establish one of the “go-to” antitrust practices in the country, but some say that will be difficult without a larger group of lawyers and in a firm that isn’t known for its antitrust work.

Source: www.law.com

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West-coast lawyers are making lateral moves. Hank Evans left Bingham McCutchen to join Farella Braun & Martel as a partner in the San Francisco business transactions group. In Silicon Valley, Rudy Kim has joined Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal as a partner; he was previously with Irell & Manella. Pepper Hamilton’s Orange County office welcomed Michael Meeks as a partner from Theodora Oringher Miller & Richman.

Source: www.nylawyer.com

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DLA Piper recruited two corporate and securities partners from Reed Smith, San Francisco. Dale Freeman represents public and private companies primarily in the life sciences industry, in corporate matters such as M&A deals and IPOs. Garth Osterman represents investors and companies, especially emphasizing M&A deals, divestiture transactions, and project finance. The partners were drawn to DLA for its strong emerging companies and venture capital practice, as well as its global reach.

Source: www.law.com

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Davis Wright Tremaine has acquired three-lawyer San Francisco IP boutique Parsons Hsue & de Runtz. Partners James Hsue and K. Alison de Runtz, and counsel Gerald Parsons bring copyright and trademark prosecution skills to the six-member San Fran IP litigation practice. The Parsons Hsue lawyers were encouraged to join Davis Wright by partner and former collegue Robert Gex. Hsue and de Runtz are looking forward to having the support of a large firm behind them for financial and recruiting reasons.

Source: www.law.com

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