Goodwin Procter logo/courtesy photo Goodwin Procter logo/courtesy photo

Goodwin Procter, which lured two partners from Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian last month, added a third this week when capital markets partner Heidi Mayon joined the firm in Silicon Valley.

Mayon has practiced corporate and securities law in California for 16 years. She joined Gunderson Dettmer's Silicon Valley office in 2015 from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where she began her career a dozen years earlier.

She called Gunderson a “fantastic private companies platform,“ but said that as her clients become more mature, her practice required a different platform. “I get involved in the later-stage companies that are looking to go into the next stage of their life cycle, through an IPO, and beyond as a public company,” she said.

Mayon said she found Goodwin Procter to be a good fit because of the firm's wide range of expertise, including the “caliber of attorneys” in life sciences and technology. Firmwide, Goodwin Procter has about 230 lawyers in its technology and life sciences group.

She said the move to Goodwin also made sense given the current state of the market for her client base. Mayon works with companies across a range of industries, including internet and software, life sciences, retail, telecommunications, hardware, and energy and clean technology.

“It has been a very good year for IPOs, based on the activity levels we are seeing here, [and] I would expect that trend to continue in an upward direction through at least the end of next year,” she said.

Mayon's arrival comes less than a month after Goodwin Procter added Josh Cook and Jon Novotny from Gunderson's San Francisco office. Before that, the Silicon Valley firm had not lost a partner in more than two years.

“As our Northern California platform continues to grow in line with client and market demand, we are seeing more and more of our late-stage, public company and underwriter client base looking to Goodwin for capital markets capabilities and support,” said Rick Kline, co-chairman of Goodwin Procter's capital markets practice, in a statement. “Heidi's extensive capital markets experience, especially as it relates to IPOs, corporate governance, and reporting obligations, is a perfect fit for the needs of both our company and underwriter clients, across both technology and life sciences industries.”

As part of its West Coast expansion, Goodwin Procter also recently added DLA Piper corporate and transactional partner Shane Albright, who joined its Silicon Valley office in August. Former Vinson & Elkins partner Darryl Woo, a onetime head of the litigation group at Fenwick & West, also joined in San Francisco in August. Earlier this year, the firm added ex-Fenwick & West private equity partners Scott Joachim and David Johanson in Silicon Valley.

There were also departures. The San Francisco office saw private equity partner Jared Jensen leave for Sidley Austin this summer, and partner Veronica McGregor joined Swiss cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift as its new chief legal officer.

Between its San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices, Goodwin Procter has about 160 lawyers in Northern California.

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