Global legal giant Norton Rose Fulbright has reeled in technology transactions expert Lior Nuchi to boost its cross-border capabilities in Northern California.

Nuchi officially left McGuireWoods last week to join Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in its San Francisco office. His switch comes a little more than a year after he left Alston & Bird and moved to McGuireWoods, which set up shop in the Bay Area in early 2016 after taking on a high-profile team of laterals from Reed Smith.

“My practice has become almost entirely cross-border and international transactions,” said Nuchi, who has over 30 years of experience in representing the technology and life science companies in both local and international businesses.

As the deals become more international, Nuchi said he needed a global platform, such as the one offered by Norton Rose Fulbright, for his foreign clients. Some of the companies that Nuchi has represented include Taiwanese computer and phone company ASUSTeK Computer Inc., London-based hedge fund Lansdowne Partners Ltd. and Japanese electronic commerce and internet company Rakuten Inc., which owns Israel-founded instant messaging app Viber.

Before heading to San Francisco in late 2016, Nuchi spent more than 20 years in Silicon Valley, where he spent five years at Alston & Bird, a firm he joined in early 2012 after two years at McDermott Will & Emery. Before that, Nuchi led Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's Silicon Valley cross-border technology transactions practice in Silicon Valley after joining that firm in 2004 from the newly-merged—and now-defunct—Bingham McCutchen.

“The most noticeable thing is how international things have become here,” Nuchi said about the development of the technology sector during his legal career.

As companies like Facebook Inc., Google LLC and Uber Technologies Inc. become more global, legal issues involving these enterprises have expanded beyond the scope of California law into Asian and European regulatory regimes, Nuchi explained.

“Having access to lawyers in both areas just became critically important to Silicon Valley lawyers, that's the biggest change over the portion of my career, it's just how international these whole area has really become and how international these clients are,” he said.

In addition to San Francisco, Nuchi has previously practiced in Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. He also speaks German, Hebrew and Japanese.

“Lior manages complex corporate and venture capital matters for clients across several sectors, many of which complement his experience in intellectual property law,” said a statement from Daryl Lansdale, Norton Rose Fulbright's U.S. managing partner.

Norton Rose Fulbright headed to San Francisco in June 2016 after taking on a team of 17 public finance lawyers from Sidley Austin. While eight of those lawyers joined Norton Rose Fulbright in New York, and another two in Washington, D.C., the remaining seven were based in the Bay Area and helped the firm open its second Golden State outpost after Los Angeles. The San Francisco office now has 10 lawyers.

“I think there is still a lot of opportunities for growth here,” Nuchi said. “I know a lot of the key lawyers in the community, so I am hoping to help with lateral recruiting.”

At Norton Rose Fulbright, Nuchi will continue to focus on his practice on cross-border transactions and help the firm expand its presence into Silicon Valley. Norton Rose Fulbright has dramatically expanded within the past year, absorbing Chadbourne & Parke and leading Australian firm Henry Davis York.