In plans unveiled on Tuesday, Fenwick & West will kick-off in New York in June with a four-partner office, including current California partners Daniel Brownstone, Kristine Di Bacco and Ken Meyers, who will relocate to the Big Apple together with one counsel and a handful of associates and staff. Meanwhile, Fenwick’s Silicon Valley dealmaker Mark Stevens and private equity chair Scott Joachim will divide their time between the coasts.

New York tech strength

According to firm chair Richard Dickson, the decision to push into New York came naturally from the firm’s extensive work as corporate advisor to emerging companies in life sciences and technology, including a growing list of tech companies based in New York. ‘It has driven growth in our existing practice,’ he said to Big Law Business, citing existing relationships with BuzzFeed, FanDuel, American Express, OrbiMed and Goldman Sachs-led messaging company Symphony. ‘The New York market in technology is now robust enough for us that the timing is right,’ he added.