Greenberg Traurig has continued to pick up lawyers in California, adding three litigators in Sacramento and one intellectual property partner in Silicon Valley.

IP litigator Scott Oliver, who was most recently a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, has joined the global firm's East Palo Alto office. In his practice, he litigates patent, copyright, trade secret and complex technology-related cases.

“I think the platform of Greenberg Traurig is just outstanding both in terms of the United States and globally,” said Oliver, noting that he was lured to Greenberg Traurig because of the opportunities to build his practice and help the firm grow in Silicon Valley.

Before joining Orrick in 2017, Oliver spent seven years at Morrison & Foerster and another seven years before that at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, which was acquired by Baltimore-based Piper Rudnick (now part of DLA Piper) in 2004.

According to his new firm, Oliver has handled more than 150 matters and a dozen trials before juries and the International Trade Commission.

“In a time of rapidly evolving technologies, we are fortunate to find skilled and well-respected practitioners such as Scott to take us to a higher level in this dynamic area,” Ian C. Ballon, co-chairman of Greenberg Traurig's global intellectual property and technology practice, said in a statement. “Scott's addition to our team further widens the scope of services we offer our clients across a broad variety of industries.”

Firmwide, Greenberg Traurig has a total of 180 IP attorneys and agents, and nearly 40 of them are based in California.

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, the firm added of counsel Todd Pickles, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, as well as of counsel David Cheit from DLA Piper and associate Deepi Miller from Winston & Strawn.

“The firm was growing [with] a particular emphasis on litigation,” said Pickles of his decision to join Greenberg Traurig. “I was very impressed by the firm's culture and collaboration between attorneys in different offices.”

Pickles is now a member of Greenberg Traurig's white-collar defense and special investigations practice group. He will also represent clients in business litigation, torts, and employment, constitutional and environmental claims, the firm said.

Cheit handles civil litigation in such areas as business disputes, insurance coverage, health care, real estate and employment. Miller, who spent the past eight years at Winston & Strawn, focuses her practice on complex business matters.

“We are thrilled to have these three talented attorneys join our office,” Kurt Kappes and Jeffrey Leacox, co-managing shareholders of Greenberg Traurig's Sacramento office, said in a joint statement. “They will add to our team's significant abilities to meet the challenges faced by our broad range of clients.”

Greenberg Traurig's Sacramento office, which opened in 2005, has a total of 22 attorneys and lobbyists, including 15 litigators. According to Greenberg Traurig's website, the nearly 2,000-attorney firm has over 600 litigators across its offices worldwide, including more than 90 former federal and state prosecutors.

Also recently in California, Greenberg Traurig brought on Charles Thompson, Polsinelli's former San Francisco office managing partner, to strengthen its global labor and employment practice.

It has also added IP lawyer Andrew Schwaab from Knobbe Martens in the Silicon Valley, cybersecurity lawyer Gretchen Ramos from Squire Patton Boggs in San Francisco, and Elizabeth Valentina, a former in-house lawyer at Fox Entertainment Group, in Los Angeles. And last year, the firm added J. David Bournazian, who served as “second-in-command” of the Southern California construction litigation practice at Troutman Sanders, to its Orange County office.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated where Scott Oliver is based. He is based in Greenberg Traurig's Silicon Valley office. 

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