Freshfields Opens Silicon Valley Office

‘Dream Team’ of Corporate and Litigation Partners Joins Firm

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP today announced that it will be opening a new office in Silicon Valley with seven founding partners. Leading corporate lawyers Sarah Solum, John Fisher and Maj Vaseghi, together with litigators Boris Feldman and Doru Gavril, will join as new partners. They will launch the office with U.S. capital markets partner Pamela Marcogliese and antitrust partner Alan Ryan, who will return to the U.S. from his current base in Brussels. This group brings market-leading expertise in corporate and M&A, employee benefits, regulatory and litigation, combined with a reputation for delivering outstanding client service.

“Silicon Valley is one of the most dynamic regions in the world and it continues to lead innovation across the globe,” said Freshfields’ Chair Edward Braham. “The impact and strategic importance of technology and life sciences businesses will only continue to grow and advisers who can provide strategic counsel on key domestic issues within a global context will be highly prized. We are thrilled to have five of the country’s top corporate and litigation lawyers from the Bay Area join us to deliver the firm and its expertise seamlessly in Northern California.”

“Combining this dream team of talent with our global platform and our high-powered teams in New York and DC enables us to respond to the needs of Bay Area clients. These needs are global, complex and demanding of constant focus and creativity,” said Ethan Klingsberg, partner and Head of U.S. Corporate and M&A, Freshfields. “Just as Bay Area clients are fearless in their approach, so is Freshfields. We are committed to serving our clients with the broad and deep resources that their strategic plans merit.”

About the team:

• Sarah Solum joins from Davis Polk. She will lead the Silicon Valley office as Managing Partner and Head of U.S. Capital Markets. Sarah is one of the top corporate lawyers in the Bay Area, with an active IPO practice and more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and complex corporate assignments for private and public companies in the technology and life sciences sectors.

• John Fisher joins from Sidley Austin as Head of U.S. Technology and Life Sciences M&A. John has an active M&A practice in both the technology and life sciences sectors. He is a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), the nation's oldest and largest association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in the field of law.

• Maj Vaseghi joins from Latham & Watkins. She combines employee benefits and executive compensation work in corporate transactions and ongoing matters with a public company representation practice of advising dozens of companies across a range of industries on corporate governance and disclosure issues.

• Boris Feldman joins from Wilson Sonsini as Head of our U.S. Technology Practice. Boris has a legendary shareholder and securities litigation practice and regularly works with boards and management teams on their most demanding corporate and securities law and governance issues.

• Doru Gavril joins from Wilson Sonsini. Focusing on shareholder litigation and government investigations, Doru has litigated cutting edge issues in securities law on behalf of leading companies in technology, social media, and life sciences.

• Pamela Marcogliese is a leading U.S. capital markets partner who regularly advises clients in the Bay Area on capital markets and governance matters. She was recently recognized as one of the top four governance lawyers in the U.S.

• Alan Ryan is a leading European antitrust partner who has spent his career advising the world’s leading businesses from his current base in Brussels. Alan will be returning to the United States and relocating to Silicon Valley, where he will enhance the delivery of the firm’s market-leading European regulatory expertise for Silicon Valley clients.

About Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is a global law firm with a long-standing track record of successfully supporting the world's leading national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments on groundbreaking and business-critical mandates. Our more than 2,800 lawyers deliver results from 27 offices worldwide alongside advice from the leading local firms. Our commitment, local and multinational expertise and business know-how mean our clients rely on us when it matters most.

Freshfields is the only firm ranked by Chambers Global in Band 1 across the seven areas of corporate/M&A, antitrust, dispute resolution, international arbitration, tax, employee benefits, and public international law. These new hires bring the number of partners in New York, Washington DC and Silicon Valley to over 50 and the number of U.S. lawyers in the firm to over 400.

More than 30% of Freshfields’ U.S. partners and global firmwide leadership are diverse and the firm has publicly committed to raising these percentages meaningfully.