Jeffrey Greene. Courtesy photo.

Jeffrey Greene, the former head of Foley & Lardner's trademark practice who spent the last two years at Fenwick & West, has moved to Cooley's offices in New York as a partner in its litigation department.

Greene, joining one of Fenwick's longtime Silicon Valley rivals, said he was attracted to Cooley for the opportunity to work with old colleagues and to make his own practice “broader and deeper.” He said Cooley's strengths in litigation and corporate work and its experience with startups and emerging companies would mean cross-selling opportunities.

“The amount of lawyers [at Cooley] who are working on things other than just tech or life sciences, I think, enables us to make clients more sticky, because we can be more of a one-stop shop,” he said. “Clients are really drawn to the possibility of having a team.”

He said he already had friendly contacts at Cooley, including Washington, D.C., intellectual property partner Brendan Hughes, who previously worked with Greene at another firm, as well as Nick Bolter, the London-based chairman of Cooley's trademark, copyright and advertising group.

Greene, who started at Cooley on Tuesday, said his clients span such industries as financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail, fashion, consumer products, technology and life sciences. In federal trademark registration and dispute records, he is listed as counsel for the IT service management company ServiceNow; for Time Out, the listings magazine brand; and for Tivity Health, a health and wellness company, among others.

Elaborating on his law firm moves, Greene said he held Fenwick and Foley in “high regard,” but was motivated by the openness, collaborative spirit and other cultural elements at Cooley. Conflicts weren't a motivating factor, he said.

“I fancy myself as being a really good mentor to associates, [and I tell them] it's not about where you want to see yourself in 20 years. It's really where you see yourself in the next two to five years, and where do you want to practice, and what you want your practice to look like,” he said. “The last two years at Fenwick kind of opened my eyes to taking my own advice.”

Rajiv Patel, who leads Fenwick's IP practice, said in a statement that he and his colleagues “appreciate Jeff and wish him well in his new endeavor.”