February 4, 2010

THE RECORDER

By Amanda Royal

SILICON VALLEY – The office will have 12 to 15 attorneys within two weeks, said Greenberg President Matthew Gorson.

Steinthal had been with Weil Gotshal since beginning his career 33 years ago. He moved from New York to Silicon Valley five years ago when Weil opened its office there. He expects a portion of his 10-attorney group will join Greenberg.

Steinthal said he was attracted to Greenberg Traurig’s strength in media transactions, and the fact it has a Los Angeles office, which Weil does not. He had worked with several Greenberg media litigators over the years.

“It was an opportunity to work with people I know and like,” Steinthal said, “and to take advantage of a well-positioned global practice.”

“Ken was a long-time member of Weil and we wish him all the best in all of his future endeavors,” a Weil statement said.

Shepherd had worked at Quinn since 1992, when the 400-lawyer firm had about 12 lawyers. He moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from Los Angeles seven years ago.

“[Chairman John] Quinn was just an extraordinary mentor to me, a real father figure,” Shepherd said. “I feel like I’ve learned from one of the very best in the business”

Quinn said Shepherd is a “wonderful person and lawyer.”

“We wish him and his new firm the best and look forward to opportunities to work together in the future,” Quinn wrote in an e-mail.

Shepherd is an all-around litigator with experience in labor and employment, antitrust, white-collar and copyright disputes. He said he was attracted to the opportunity to be in a management role, and impressed by Gorson’s enthusiasm. His clients have included the Tribune Co., Chicago Cubs, venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Countrywide, IBM, Parsons and Northrup Grumman.

He expects his management duties will take up 60 percent of his time during the initial growth stage of the new office.

Gorson said the firm will continue to hire “opportunistically” in San Francisco. The office, 28,000 square feet on the eighth floor of 153 Townsend, has enough space for 40 attorneys. It was previously occupied by DLA Piper, which moved to 555 Mission last year.

Greenberg, which has 1,775 attorneys worldwide, now has five offices and more than 200 attorneys in California.