A longtime K&L Gates IP partner and Palo Alto office leader has decamped for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

Michael E. Zeliger was a global co-practice area leader for intellectual property at K&L Gates, where he practiced out of the Palo Alto and Boston offices.

“There was a number of professional and personal circumstances that made considering the move a prudent thing to do,” Zeliger said in an interview Friday. ”I'm really going to have a chance to focus again on client service,” after several years of taking on other responsibilities as well.