Armando Castro Joins Corporate & Securities/Emerging Companies Practice
(Nov. 24, 2008, Palo Alto, Calif. ) – LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – Strategic growth continues in the new Silicon Valley office of Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world. The latest addition is partner Armando Castro, who joins the Corporate & Securities Group of the Business & Finance Department, effective today, from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
“Armando’s arrival is well-aligned with our plan to strategically build the newly opened Silicon Valley office with high-quality laterals in targeted practice areas,” said John Iino, Co-Chair of Reed Smith’s Corporate & Securities Practice and one of the partners leading the Silicon Valley office. “He is a well-recognized legal resource in this region’s venture capital, public company, and investment banking communities. We expect Armando will play a major role in building our significant corporate, venture and emerging growth company practice here.”
Mr. Castro re-joins two of his former colleagues from Morgan Lewis—partners Craig Opperman and Carina Tan—who joined Reed Smith’s IP Practice at the end of October.
Mr. Castro’s practice is diverse; he represents companies ranging from formation stage to mature public companies. He also represents the boards of directors, investors and investment banks that invest and work with these companies. His industry background includes renewable energy technologies, industrial chemicals, synthetic biology, energy conservation technologies, enterprise and telecom networking technologies, wireless technologies, electronics, software, and semiconductors. He is also widely recognized as a leader in the clean-tech sector.
“I am very excited about the unique opportunity to help define and shape Reed Smith’s presence in the Silicon Valley,” Mr. Castro said. “The firm’s global presence, particularly in the Middle East and China, provides a terrific platform to service my clients, and I am enthusiastic about collaborating with Reed Smith’s recently expanded renewable energy practice to expand my work in clean technology.”
A 1992 graduate of Stanford University Law School, Mr. Castro began his career as an associate at Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto. He was recruited to Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison’s Palo Alto office in 1998, leaving in 2000 to become general counsel and corporate secretary for Cyras Systems, Inc., which was subsequently sold to CIENA Corporation in 2001. Mr. Castro returned to Brobeck as a partner in early 2002, remaining there through its dissolution in 2003. He was among the many Brobeck partners in Palo Alto who joined Morgan Lewis in 2003. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Castro was a CPA in the Los Angeles office of Ernst & Young.
Mr. Castro currently serves as the National Treasurer and a director of the Hispanic National Bar Association, and as the Treasurer and a director of the Hispanic National Bar Foundation. He is a regular speaker for the Practicing Law Institute and several business promotional organizations in Northern California.
Other recent Valley hires include corporate partners Richard Scudellari and Michael DiSanto from Morrison & Foerster; Sergio Garcia, former Life Sciences Chair at Fenwick & West; and Steven Gasser, former in-house counsel of e commerce giant Zappos.com.
