Longtime Hogan Lovells tax partner Jeff Tolin has joined Cooley's team in New York, where he expects to shift his practice to focus on representing growing startups.

Tolin's practice has focused on helping clients reduce taxes related to mergers, spinoffs, joint ventures, stock and bond offerings and their everyday business. In an interview Monday, his first day at Cooley and the firm's first day at its new Hudson Yards offices, Tolin said Cooley's work for clients in the tech and life-sciences industries dovetailed with his own.

Jeff Tolin, with Cooley.

Tolin, who said he wasn't bringing a big book of business with him, anticipated his practice would shift from working with companies that generally looked to make acquisitions to working with founders and startups that are generally in a position of selling equity to fuel their growth.

“I imagine for the future I'm probably going to deal with a lot more issues for startup companies,” Tolin said.

An alumnus of the New York University School of Law, Tolin said he looks forward to working with lawyers he previously sat across the table from, including senior counsel Mike Faber and partner Bill Corcoran. He said he also looks forward to working alongside Stephen Gardner and Lesse Castleberry, two senior counsel who Tolin said were “quite distinguished.”

With his move, Tolin said he was ”maybe a little bit closer to a leadership position,” although he added that he was “coming in with humility.” At Hogan Lovells, he said, no such opportunities seemed to be in the cards. Cooley lists 14 people on its website in the tax practice with the title of partner; Hogan Lovells lists 45.

While he began his career at Chadbourne & Parke, Tolin joined Hogan Lovells predecessor Hogan & Hartson in the early 2000s and made partner in 2004. He said he learned about the opportunity at Cooley from a recruiter.

Asked about Tolin's departure, a Hogan Lovells spokeswoman said the firm wished him well.