Goodwin Procter, fresh off opening a new office in Silicon Valley and bulking up its life sciences practice in Europe, has added to its partnership ranks in Boston and New York.

Eric Goldstein, chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel of private equity and venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners, joined Goodwin Procter this week as a private equity and investment funds partner in New York. Meanwhile, in Boston, where Goodwin Procter ushered in a new brand and headquarters in 2016, the firm hired Murtha Cullina's Rachel Faye Smith as a partner for its ERISA and executive compensation practice.

The American Lawyer recently reported on Boston becoming a hotbed of Big Law lateral activity, with nearly 100 moves occurring since the beginning of the year.

Smith said her decision to leave Murtha Cullina, a regional firm with offices throughout New England, was spurred by the opportunity to work with a more robust ERISA group on a much larger, national platform.

“It was just such a great opportunity,” Smith said. “This ERISA group at Goodwin Procter is one of the best in the country.”

Smith has been working in the ERISA space in Boston for nearly 14 years, with a specific focus on employee benefits engagements. Following her graduation from McGill University School of Law in 2004, Smith joined the ERISA practice at Bingham McCutchen, in Boston, where she eventually became of counsel at the now-defunct Am Law 100 firm.

But in early 2014, about a year before Bingham McCutchen's eventual collapse (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius absorbed the bulk of the firm), Smith moved to 100-lawyer Murtha Cullina, where she became a partner in its ERISA and executive compensation practice.

As an ERISA lawyer, Smith said that she works with almost every industry that her firm's serve, regularly picking up work with private equity, life sciences and biotechnology clients.

“If you have employees, at some point you're going to need an ERISA lawyer,” Smith said. “I'm looking forward to working with all of our industries and offering this service to anybody who needs it here.”

In New York, where Goodwin Procter recently welcomed back former associate James Gatta as a partner for its government investigations, enforcement and white-collar defense group, the firm has also brought aboard Goldstein, a former associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher who spent nearly the past six years at Insight Venture Partners.

Goldstein specializes in the formation and operation of private equity, venture capital and other private investment vehicles. He also advises on compliance, governance, regulatory and structuring issues involving private funds and sponsors. In 2012, Goldstein joined Insight Venture Partners, a client of both Willkie Farr and Goodwin Procter.

“[Goldstein] joins Goodwin as we continue to bolster our leading fund formation practice in the United States, Europe and Asia,” said A.J. Weidhaas, co-chairman of the firm's private equity practice. “Adept at regulatory matters and securities law, he is the perfect addition to Goodwin's international fund formation bench.”

In 2017, Goodwin Procter saw its gross revenue soar 13.2 percent, to $1.03 billion, a performance that saw the 909-lawyer firm jump four spots in the Am Law 100 rankings, to No. 30. The American Lawyer noted this week that Goodwin Procter was one of six firms to join the so-called super rich club. Fueling the firm's growth is a boom in international and domestic private equity work, a practice that saw 41 percent growth in 2017.

Smith and Goldstein join Goodwin Procter only a few weeks after the firm made a pair of high-profile hires from Fenwick & West in Silicon Valley. Scott Joachim, the former chairman of Fenwick & West's private equity group, jumped to Goodwin Procter along with fellow private equity partner David Johanson. In March, Goodwin Procter relocated funds partner Gregory Barclay to Hong Kong after corporate partner Nian Qing left the firm to join a longtime client.