Goodwin Procter has hired Baker Botts’ California litigation chair in San Francisco to boost its dispute resolution capabilities on the West Coast. 

Jonathan Shapiro joins the firm’s complex litigation and dispute resolution practice as a partner after six years at Baker Botts, where he chaired the Houston-headquartered firm’s litigation department in California. 

Shapiro focuses his practice on securities litigation, government enforcement actions and commercial litigation matters. He regularly assists clients through class action, securities fraud and M&A litigation and has defended clients facing actions by the SEC, DoJ, and FINRA, among other entities. 

Shapiro joined Mintz Levin to lead its West Coast litigation group in 2013 after 16 years at WilmerHale, where he began his legal career in 1996. 

Jim McGarry, co-chair of Goodwin’s complex litigation and dispute resolution practice, said: “Our clients — particularly those operating and investing in the technology, fintech, private equity, and life sciences industries — continue to face risks and challenges with securities and business litigation and government investigations. We are thrilled to enhance our capabilities with Jon’s arrival.”

Goodwin’s litigation platform has grown by almost 20% in the past two years, according to Joanne Gray, who chairs the department. The Boston-based firm’s California litigation department, meanwhile, has grown by nearly 40% in the same timeframe, Gray said. 

Some of Goodwin’s more recent partner additions to its litigation team in California include Matt Kanny, who joined the firm last summer from Manatt Phelps & Phillips to co-lead its litigation practice in Southern California alongside partner Laura Stoll. 

The firm also hired partners Arman Oruc from Simpson Thacher and Jennifer Fisher from Duane Morris, who joined in June and April respectively. 

Elsewhere, the firm's litigation department suffered a blow last month when it lost a five-partner life sciences IP litigation team to Allen & Overy, which hired the highly-rated partners to open an outpost in Boston.