Perkins Coie has hired two partners on the West Coast as it continues to replenish its emerging companies and venture capital (ECVC) practice following the loss of four partners to Morrison Foerster earlier this year.

Former Perkins Coie counsel Chris Grogan is re-joining the firm in Los Angeles from his role as general counsel of California fintech startup Stealth, while Steve Davis is moving across to its Portland office after 15 years at rival Seattle firm Davis Wright Tremaine. 

Grogan and Davis are the third and fourth partners to join Perkins Coie’s ECVC practice this month, after Dan Austin and Patrick Anding were added to the firm’s teams in Texas and California from Dickinson Wright and DLA Piper respectively. 

All four hires follow Perkins Coie's loss of a total of six West Coast partners to varioius MoFo California offices this year. They included the firm’s former ECVC practice co-chair, Michael Glaser, and veteran partner Mike LaPlante, who joined in February. They were followed by ECVC partners Teresa Tate and Paul Navarro, tech transactions partner Daphne Higgs, and life sciences specialist Matthew Ferry. 

Matt Oshinsky, co-chair of Perkin Coies’ ECVC practice, said Grogan and Davis’ combined experience working for startups and fast-scaling businesses would add depth to the practice. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Chris back to Perkins Coie and to welcome Steve to the firm as we continue to make strategic additions to our emerging companies and venture capital capabilities,” he said. 

Grogan spent three years at Perkins Coie between 2015 and 2018, before he was hired as general counsel of cashback website Honey, which was acquired by PayPal in 2020. After leading Honey’s team through the $4bn acquisition, Grogan stayed on as legal counsel at PayPal before exiting to join Stealth in February this year. 

Davis, meanwhile, also spent time in-house at Lattice Semiconductors prior to his tenure at Davis Wright Tremaine. He focuses on advising early-stage startups and their investors as well as public companies on securities offerings and M&A, the firm said. 

Following the latest additions, Perkins Coie’s ECVC practice boasts around 110 lawyers, including 62 partners.