(July 31, 2008, San Francisco, CA) – Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, today announced it will open an office in the Silicon Valley early this fall. Rich Scudellari, formerly a high-profile partner in the Palo Alto office of Morrison & Foerster, joins Reed Smith today and will anchor the corporate practice in the firm’s new office. Mr. Scudellari will be a partner in the firmwide Corporate & Securities Group.
“This new office reflects our success in expanding our transactional practice in California, and in attracting several top laterals who have significant client relationships in the Silicon Valley,” said Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith’s Global Managing Partner. “Adding an office there will help us serve many existing clients in the market, as well as attract new opportunities. Rich’s more than two decades of experience in the region, his stellar reputation in the corporate, securities and finance areas, and his management and leadership skills will provide key support for the expansion of our presence in this key region.”
Among Reed Smith’s recent laterals with practices focused on Silicon Valley clients are current San Francisco partners Sergio Garcia, Rob Dellenbach, Catharina Min, Devin Cuyler, and Craig Tanner, and Los Angeles-based Allen Sussman. Long-time Reed Smith partners Don Reinke, Scott Baker, Michael Sanders, Tom Quinlan, Doyle Johnson, and John Bovich also have practices with significant ties to the region.
“Reed Smith already represents 17 of the top 50 public companies in the Silicon Valley,” said Jack Nelson, Reed Smith’s San Francisco-based firmwide Head of Commercial Litigation and executive committee member. He also pointed out that the firm’s Life Sciences Health Industry Group (LSHIG), which has significant regulatory, transactional and IP practices in major markets across the U.S., will be well positioned to provide services to the many life sciences and medical device companies through the new Silicon Valley office.
“With the recent addition of Sergio Garcia, former co-chair of Fenwick & West’s Life Sciences Group, we know there will be significant synergies,” Mr. Nelson said. “The combination of Rich in corporate and Sergio in life sciences gives our Silicon Valley office an exceptionally strong start.”
“Our geographic and practice reach makes Reed Smith very attractive for California-based clients who may have a broad range of needs,” said John Iino, firmwide leader of Reed Smith's Corporate & Securities Group. “Our significant presence in Europe, Hong Kong, along with our recent expansion into Beijing, is a differentiator for Silicon Valley-based technology companies and their private equity/venture capital investors. Similarly, our presence in the Middle East offers ties to important sources of investment capital and a market into which Silicon Valley companies are looking to expand.”
“We have given our plans for opening an office in the Silicon Valley a great deal of thought,” said Mr. Jordan. “We have pursued a strategy of being where our clients need us and now is the right time for this move. We anticipate steady growth by adding high profile laterals with corporate, litigation and IP capabilities.”
Mr. Scudellari’s practice emphasizes strategic counseling and negotiations, with a focus on representing companies of all types – from high-tech startups through multinational corporations – as well as venture capital and other private equity investors in many areas, including venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, strategic alliances, and corporate governance. He has successfully completed major negotiations and transactions on behalf of companies and investors in the electronics, software, Internet, health sciences and biotechnology industries, including more than 150 public and private mergers and acquisition and financing transactions. Mr. Scudellari is a 1982 graduate of Boston College School of Law.
“I am excited at the unique opportunity of being the first partner in a newly opened Silicon Valley office of a dynamic and successful firm with worldwide reach,” said Mr. Scudellari. “This is a very vibrant market in which I believe Reed Smith will be enormously successful. The firm has many components that are important to my practice, particularly in the areas of IP, finance and international business transactions. In addition the firm has clearly mastered the difficult art of working in teams to deliver top notch legal services to clients.”
In addition to Mr. Scudellari and Mr. Garcia, Mr. Iino and Mr. Nelson will play important on-site roles in the integration and growth of the Silicon Valley office. A number of current partners – including Mr. Reinke, Ms. Min, Mr. Dellenbach, Mr. Quinlan and Mr. Cuyler – will spend time each week there as well. This becomes Reed Smith’s third office in Northern California, joining its current offices in San Francisco and Oakland.
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,600 lawyers in 23 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, manufacturing, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com
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