Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that it has opened an office in Boston to further extend its market-leading technology and life sciences capabilities. The move also expands the firm’s premier Finance and Emerging Companies and Venture Capital (ECVC) practices. Additionally, the new office will strengthen existing transactional, private equity, real estate, and intellectual property (IP) practices.
Morrison & Foerster’s initial expansion includes adding a group of 23 finance attorneys from a Boston headquartered boutique finance firm. That team brings a leading commercial lending practice focused on the technology and life sciences sectors, and subscription lending. It includes eight partners: David Ephraim, who also becomes the Office Managing Partner in Boston; Charles (Chuck) Stavros; Beth Tunstall; David Givner; Joseph O’Donnell; Jonathan Jacobs (joining in New York); Alexander Rheaume; and Gregory Bilton.
Ori Solomon, a leading ECVC lawyer, has also joined the firm’s Boston office as a partner and Co-Chair of the ECVC practice. Mr. Solomon primarily serves clients operating and investing in the life sciences and technology sectors that are located in Boston, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area. He was previously at Proskauer Rose, where he was hiring partner for the Boston office.
“We are a premier global firm that leads on market-shaping technology and life sciences matters and offers innovative solutions to our clients. It is a natural extension and synergy for us to open an office in Boston, a city known as a hub for innovation and technology and the epicenter for life sciences on the East Coast,” said Morrison & Foerster chair Larren Nashelsky. “We are committed to growing aggressively to meet the needs of our clients. Establishing a significant presence in Boston further builds on our momentum following our two most successful years ever, which included continuing to work on complex, headline-grabbing matters for clients such as SoftBank and Novartis.”
The new office complements Morrison & Foerster’s strong presence in other markets in the U.S., such as the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, the Washington, D.C. region, and Southern California. Establishing an office in Boston further enhances the firm’s global platform as well, which includes five offices in Asia and three offices in Europe. It also provides an opportunity to the many life sciences and technology companies located in the Boston area to access Morrison & Foerster’s outstanding global life sciences and technology offerings.
Morrison & Foerster’s 29,000 square foot office located at 200 Clarendon Street (the “Hancock Tower”) in the Back Bay area of Boston, is now home to more than 30 lawyers, with room for significant future growth. In addition to the attorneys who have just joined Morrison & Foerster, the new office houses several of the firm’s existing lawyers who have been regularly working in the Boston area, including Privacy + Data Security partner Julie O’Neill, a Real Estate team led by partner Thomas McGovern and Of Counsel Guy McPherson, Business Restructuring + Insolvency Group partner Dennis Jenkins, and State + Local Tax Of Counsel Philip Olsen. Also joining the Boston office is Mike Ward, long-time partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office. Dr. Ward has chaired the firm’s Patent Group and has co-chaired the IP Practice since 2008, and is the foremost figure in the field of plant IP and agricultural biotechnology.