Perkins Coie Announces New Office in Austin
The firm’s entry into Silicon Hills highlights its growth in the U.S. and expanding presence in key markets known for technology and emerging companies
Perkins Coie, an Am Law 50 firm known for representing innovative companies and industry leaders, announced today that it has opened an office in Austin, marking an expansion of its Texas operations. Establishing an office in Austin furthers the firm’s momentum in building a strong tech-based practice in Texas and broadens its ability to counsel companies across the state, including those in computer electronics and other technology industries as well as those in the retail, transportation, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries, as they increasingly adopt technology-related platforms and applications.
Perkins Coie entered the Texas market 10 years ago by opening its Dallas office, which today has 30 lawyers across a range of practices with particular strength in technology and privacy.
“We continue to build our reputation as a leading technology and privacy firm for many of the state’s biggest companies,” said Dean Harvey, Dallas Office Managing Partner. “We’re excited to welcome our new colleagues in Austin and work with them to further the firm’s service to clients throughout Texas.”
Three partners with extensive experience in technology and other industries are joining the Austin office, the firm’s 20th. They include:
• Andy Smetana, an experienced corporate lawyer who represents entrepreneurs and investors in a wide variety of technology and high-growth enterprises. He advises emerging companies and investors in venture capital, private equity, and other strategic financings, buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, and issuers and underwriters in public offerings. In addition to helping clients with bet-the-company transactions, Smetana routinely advises clients on corporate governance matters. He joins from Vinson & Elkins and was previously General Counsel for Vapor IO.
• Craig Tyler, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, who has 20 years of experience litigating trade secrets and patent infringements/validity matters in federal and state courts for clients in the LED, LCD, software, internet, telecommunications, medical device, pharmaceutical, gaming, e-learning, semiconductor, VoIP, computer-assisted hardware, and oil and gas industries. He joins from Vinson & Elkins.
• Jose Villarreal, a veteran litigator, trial counsel, and advisor to technology and growth companies, who focuses on patent litigation and alternative dispute resolution, strategic intellectual property counseling, intellectual property licensing and merger and acquisition due diligence. Jose has represented clients in numerous federal district courts around the country and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He joins from Wilson Sonsini.
Also joining the group as a partner in the firm’s Palo Alto office:
• Wendy Wang, who focuses her practice on IP litigation, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights, with a focus on patent litigation involving data storage, sound recognition, software, internet technologies, and computer electronics. Wang works extensively with clients in China and is a fluent Mandarin speaker. She joins Perkins Coie’s Palo Alto office from Vinson & Elkins.
Along with its notable growth in both revenue and lawyer headcount over the past five years, Perkins Coie has achieved one of the highest lateral retention rates among large law firms and has been repeatedly recognized for its collegial and inclusive culture. This includes being named to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for the past 17 years.
