San Francisco ? National law firm Foley & Lardner LLP announced today it will expand by opening an office in Silicon Valley. The new office will impact the firm?s intellectual property and business law practices, and supports its strategic vision for expanding its focus in the life sciences industry.
The firm has recruited noted life sciences attorney Gerald F. Swiss and three attorneys that work closely with him. All four attorneys will be based in the new Silicon Valley office along with two partners, Patrick Ellisen and Ivonne King, who will move from the firm?s San Francisco office.
?Establishing a Silicon Valley presence is the next step in a strategic plan that the firm has followed for the past several years to strengthen and expand our intellectual property and business transactions practices as well as service the life sciences industry nationally and on the West Coast,? said Ralf Boer, chairman and CEO of Foley & Lardner LLP. ?We have waited for the right opportunity that supported our national focus from legal practice, industry and geographic standpoints, and Jerry Swiss? practice perfectly complements our strategy.?
The addition of Swiss to the firm?s roster of intellectual property talent adds a high quality practice around which the firm can build the Silicon Valley office. Swiss has worked as a patent attorney in the life sciences industry for more than 20 years in New Jersey and California. He focuses his practice on counseling start-up and large multi-national pharmaceutical and biotech companies on complex patent strategies for protecting critical research efforts. His client roster includes Elan Corporation, MicroTherapeutics, Inc., MedLogic Global, Ltd., Genelabs, Inc. and Vasogen, Inc.
“Foley & Lardner and I share a common vision. We both are committed to a belief that the Bay Area will continue to lead the nation and expand its role in the life sciences and high-tech sectors,? Swiss said. ?We are also committed to the belief that Silicon Valley will be the legal focal point for these sectors in the Bay Area.”
In addition to life sciences expertise, Foley & Lardner LLP plans to grow the office in order to serve its large client base in the electronics, semiconductor and software industries located in Silicon Valley. The firm expects to add additional attorneys with intellectual property and intellectual property litigation as well as business law practice specialties in the near future.
?Foley & Lardner is committed to growing these practices because of the Bay Area?s reputation as a leading technology center and the large number of patent litigations filed in California,? said Nancy J. Geenen, managing partner of the firm?s San Francisco office and the new Silicon Valley office. ?We currently have a significant client base in Silicon Valley, and the new office will help facilitate better service to and growth of our existing clients there as well as expansion of our Northern California practices.?
The new Silicon Valley office opened effective March 1, and is located at Palo Alto Square on the corner of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road.
Foley & Lardner LLP is a provider of legal counsel to global companies. The firm’s experience encompasses a full range of corporate legal services. Foley & Lardner’s nearly 1,000 attorneys understand today’s most complex business issues including corporate governance, securities enforcement, litigation, merger and acquisitions, intellectual property and IP litigation, labor and employment, and tax. The firm offers total solutions in the automotive, e-business and information technology, energy, financial services, food, golf and resort services, insurance, health care, life sciences, nanotechnology, and sports industries. Our Web site can be found at www.foley.com.
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