In less than 15 years, Boston-born Goodwin Procter has become a known entity, and frequent adviser, to Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs.

Competing head-to-head with its Big Law rivals in the valley, Goodwin represented about 11 percent of startup clients last year, according to a survey by Kruze Consulting; it was the only East-Coast-born firm to land in the top five for startup client market share.

The firm recently made headlines for representing online workplace communication company Slack in its initial public offering. And it represented the underwriters in Lyft's highly anticipated IPO, sharing a $1.4 million legal fee with Palo Alto-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Goodwin's growing role in the emerging growth space hasn't been by accident.

Chairman David Hashmall, who has led the Am Law 100 firm since 2014, said Goodwin's strategy is centered on becoming a top player in tech, life sciences, private equity, real estate and complex IP litigation.

“What we have been trying to do, and I think we have done, is to develop a dominant market presence across those areas,” Hashmall said. “We really see ourselves having particular expertise in advising high-growth, innovative and really often disruptive businesses on the challenges and opportunities they face.”

Goodwin has been aggressively expanding on the West Coast since it planted a flag in California in 2006.

The firm now has 215 lawyers across its San Francisco, Palo Alto and Los Angeles offices, after announcing the addition of two more partners Monday. And a new Santa Monica office is set to officially open this summer with about 15 technology and private equity lawyers expected to join on day one.

Graphics by David Palmer.

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