July 8, 2013

THE RECORDER

By Julia Love

SAN FRANCISCO – The lateral marketplace remains hot well into summer, with a flurry of law firm moves in Silicon Valley.

Dentons lost the head of its Palo Alto office and chair of its patent litigation practice Monday to Arent Fox’s new San Francisco office. But Dentons saw activity on the other side of the ledger as well, adding partner Matthew Schulz, who previously led the global immigration and mobility practice at Baker & McKenzie.

Meanwhile, Perkins Coie landed more manpower in the Valley. The firm hired IP partner Michael Glenn of Glenn Patent Group, who came on board with much of his 21-year-old patent prosecution boutique.

Arthur Beeman, who handled commercial and IP litigation for Dentons, said he was drawn to Arent Fox by the opportunity to build a new practice.
“It’s not every day that a law firm of Arent Fox’s stature comes to San Francisco to open an office,” he said.

Arent Fox plans to announce three more lateral hires this week, said Robert O’Brien, the firm’s California managing partner. Since Arent Fox, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, opened its doors in San Francisco in June, the firm has been an attractive destination to Bay Area partners, said legal recruiter Larry Watanabe.

“They opened the office with a lot of pre-existing relationships in the Bay Area,” said Watanabe, who represented Beeman in his move to Arent Fox. “That’s incredibly appealing.”

Dentons’ U.S. managing partner, Mike McNamara, declined to comment on who will take the reins of the Silicon Valley office, but the firm hinted that client conflicts were a factor in Beeman’s departure.

“So that both Art and Dentons may pursue matters from which we were foreclosed while Art was a partner at the firm, we have agreed to part ways,” a spokeswoman for Dentons said in a statement.

McNamara said Schulz’s arrival will help the firm continue to expand its presence in the Valley. Schulz counsels employers as they plan and implement global transfers.

“The team that he leads will be a significant benefit to our clients in the Valley, in Northern California and throughout the entire United States,” he said.

Baker & McKenzie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Perkins Coie’s Valley office swelled with the arrival of Glenn and his team, which includes two patent agents and a handful of support staff. Glenn said the boutique will dissolve in August. All but a handful of support staff and contractors joined Perkins Coie, he added.

With roots as an electrical engineer, Glenn gained in-house experience with Intel Corp., National Semiconductor and Digital Equipment Corp. before founding his own firm in 1992. He said the bulk of his clients – including Electronics for Imaging, Netgear and Nuance “ will join him at Perkins Coie.
Though sad to close up his own shop, Glenn said he is already relishing the resources a global firm affords.

“I’m like a kid in a candy store,” he said. “I have all the support I could want, and I don’t have to drag my wife in seven days a week to help me.”