Fenwick & West has lured Nancy Chen, a longtime compensation and benefits partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, to join its Silicon Valley office.

Chen is joining Fenwick as the fifth partner in its executive compensation and benefits practice, which has 14 attorneys, including nine associates. Chen said joining Fenwick allows her to return to her roots of “practicing with a Silicon Valley-based law firm that focuses on technology and life science companies.”

“I have experienced the bubble, and I lived through the bust and have been continuing practicing during kind what I called the plateaued periods,” Chen said. “I think it is one of the most exciting times for working with startup companies in the executive compensation area.”

Chen started her practice in the Bay Area in 1993 as an associate in Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's San Francisco office. She moved to Gunderson Dettmer in 1996 and was promoted to a partner at the firm in 2001. Orrick recruited Chen to join its Palo Alto office in 2008.

Chen advises startup clients on tax and securities issues related to equity-based compensation, including stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, employment agreements and deferred compensation arrangements. She also helps emerging companies navigate executive compensation and employee benefits issues as they move forward with initial public offerings and acquisitions.

At Fenwick, Chen will work closely with partners Scott Spector, Shawn Lampron, Gerald Audant and Matthew Cantor to help the firm build out its executive compensation and employee benefits practice. Cantor, who is based in New York, joined the group last year from Cravath.

“Nancy's approach to providing practical, actionable guidance is a great fit for the firm,” Alan Smith, corporate chair of Fenwick, said in a statement welcoming Chen. “We sought out Nancy's expertise due to the tremendous growth of our corporate practice which has driven the need for additional executive compensation bandwidth. Nancy adds additional depth to our sophisticated and differentiated offering in this specialty, which is important to technology and life sciences companies at all stages of growth.”

In a statement responding to Chen's departure, an Orrick spokesperson said, “We are grateful to Nancy for her contributions to our clients and our firm. We wish her the best.”

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