A pair of prominent private equity lawyers in Silicon Valley have left Fenwick & West to join Goodwin Procter's private equity and technology companies practices.

Prior to joining Goodwin Procter on Wednesday, Scott Joachim and David Johanson were both partners at Fenwick & West, where Joachim served as the founder and chair of the firm's private equity practice after coming aboard from Perkins Coie in 2012.

“This was in all regards a client-driven move,” Joachim said. “The idea was that we can sense from our clients that they were interested in a full-service offering. We could see how the market was expanding globally … and we want to be sure that we were well-positioned to serve our clients in the best way possible.”

Joachim's practice focuses on advising investors, public and emerging companies and entrepreneurs in complex financial and strategic transactions in the technology sector. He said that, in searching for a full-service, global firm to fit his client's needs, Goodwin Procter's name emerged as a perfect fit because of its preeminent technology practice, as well as its expertise in the private equity sector.

“Ultimately, this is a story of convergence. This is a story of the East Coast converging with the West Coast; this is a story of Wall Street converging with Sand Hill Road; this is a story of technology converging with private equity,” Joachim said. “What the clients want is to have a multidisciplinary approach that bridges cultures and practice groups.”

Before heading to Fenwick & West six years ago, Joachim headed the California private equity practice at Perkins Coie, which he joined in 2009 after two years at Paul Hastings. Joachim's private equity team in Silicon Valley hired Johanson as a partner from Kirkland & Ellis in 2015.

“Scott and I have been working together for the last three years to build this practice at Fenwick,” said Johanson, adding that along with Joachim he was looking for the best platform to position his practice for the future.

Johanson represents a number of private equity sponsors, including buyout funds, growth equity funds, venture capital funds and hedge funds.

“Scott and David are among the most well-regarded and best-known private equity and technology lawyers in Northern California,” said a statement from A.J. Weidhaas, co-chair of Goodwin Procter's private equity practice. “Their practices align perfectly with our highly collaborative private equity and technology practices, which are attracting top talent as we continue to see robust client demand.”

According to Goodwin Procter, which broke the $1 billion gross revenue mark in 2017, the 909-lawyer firm now has about 70 lawyers working out of its Silicon Valley office in Menlo Park, California. Firmwide, Goodwin Procter has nearly 200 lawyers involved in its technology companies practice, as well as 200 lawyers in its private equity practice, although a large number of those lawyers work in both practices.

Goodwin Procter is an Am Law 100 firm with Boston roots that went through a rebranding campaign in 2016, an initiative that chopped Procter from the firm's official name in marketing materials. That same year the firm brought back former partner Brackett Denniston III as senior counsel after he retired as general counsel of General Electric Co. Goodwin Procter has continued to be active in the lateral market.

Last week, the firm welcomed back James Gatta, chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, as a partner in its white collar practice. The firm also recently relocated funds partner Gregory Barclay from London to Hong Kong, where Goodwin Procter picked up two Paul Hastings funds partners last year.

Fenwick & West, which saw gross revenue rise last year to $374.9 million, did not immediately return a request for comment about the departures of Joachim and Johanson. The 321-lawyer firm, known for letting some of its lawyers work in far-flung locales, picked up emerging companies partner Eli Curi in New York. Fenwick & West made its long-awaited opening in the Big Apple in 2016.

Virginia DeMarchi, an intellectual property litigator based out of Fenwick & West's headquarters in Mountain View, California, is set to leave in June to replace U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd when he retires from the bench.