Sidley Austin Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Sidley Austin has recruited a longtime Cooley attorney to help bolster its emerging companies practice on the West Coast.

Frank Rahmani joined Sidley in Palo Alto as a partner in the corporate practice with an emphasis on emerging companies and capital markets, as well as a member of its global life science practice, Sidley confirmed Thursday.

His hire is instrumental to both Sidley's growth in the emerging companies space as well as in California, firm leadership said.

Before the move, Rahmani spent 23 years practicing at Cooley, where he advised emerging companies and investors in the life science and technology spaces in corporate, venture capital and institutional financings, as well as in mergers and acquisitions and tech transactions and initial public offerings.

He has completed more than 200 institutional and venture financings, as well as more than 30 strategic partnerships and various M&A transactions ranging from less than $20 million to more than $3 billion in deal value, according to his LinkedIn page.

Rahmani was not immediately available to comment on the move.

"Frank's diverse corporate transactional experience complements our regulatory, enforcement and litigation practices with the global life sciences team," said Paul Kalb, a member of the firm's executive committee and leader of Sidley's health care and Food and Drug Administration practice, in a statement.

Added Martin Wellington, managing partner of Sidley's Palo Alto office: "Frank's arrival signifies our strategy to build out Sidley's presence in Northern California."

Even amid a pandemic, Sidley's hiring of Rahmani is another reach for talent from Cooley. Last year, Mehdi Khodadad, who chaired Cooley's private equity practice, joined Sidley, along with other lawyers from Cooley.

In other recent hires, Joshua Thompson, who was the head of Shearman & Sterling's global leveraged finance group, joined Sidley in New York.

Just like those moves, recruiters at Lippman Jungers Bala, including Sabina Lippman and Divya Bala, helped Rahmani make the move to Sidley, according to a source familiar with the transitions.

Representatives at Cooley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Christine Simmons contributed to this report.

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