Fenwick & West has bolstered its Santa Monica crew by adding Sarah Chambless, a former leader of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips' venture capital and emerging companies practice.

After spending more than a decade at Manatt, Chambless left the Los Angeles-based firm to join Silicon Valley-headquartered Fenwick on Monday as a corporate partner.

“I practice in startups, Fenwick obviously has an exceptional brand in this space, and I just thought it is an opportunity to really grow and expand my practice,” Chambless said.

Fenwick announced the opening of its Santa Monica office in early March. Since then the firm has been growing its team there, which now includes more than 20 professionals. In addition to hiring Chambless, Fenwick recently added five new associates to its Silicon Beach outpost.

“As startup investments in technology and life sciences in the greater Los Angeles region have grown over the past few years, so too has our presence in the market. There is strong demand from emerging technology and life sciences companies for our focused services,” Fenwick chair Richard Dickson said in a statement.

Dickson said Fenwick now serves more 200 companies in the Silicon Beach region. “We're growing to meet this significant demand, and know that Sarah's extensive experience in the Los Angeles startup community will be an asset to our clients and that our deep roots in technology will be a benefit to her clients,” he added.

Chambless started practicing in the Los Angeles market when she joined Manatt as an associate in 2008. Over the years, she has concentrated her practice on advising technology clients on matters including startup company formation, early-stage finance, technology licensing and regulatory considerations, venture capital investment transactions, and mergers and acquisitions.

“Fenwick is really organized around technology and life science emerging growth companies, so the attorneys here at the firm are very focused on the success of companies in that industry vertical,” she said. “And I think that makes it unique and [makes it] stand out from some of the other competitors.”

A number of tech-focused firms have opened in Santa Monica or nearby cities in the past few years as the LA region's tech market continues to grow.

“Some of the most established players now in Silicon Beach ecosystem are Silicon Valley firms that moved down in 2012, and after. It certainly disrupted market share as it existed prior to that,” Chambless said. “From my perspective as a tech attorney, disruptive is fundamentally a good thing because disrupting the status quo means that we'll have to work harder to bring better services for our clients.”

A spokesperson for Manatt said in a statement that the firm wishes Chambless well, and that its lawyers “are excited about our growing venture capital and emerging companies team under the leadership of Lisa Suennen.”

“We have a unique hybridized team comprised of both consultants and lawyers that is unmatched in the market, and are excited about the expanding direction of our strong and diverse group, which includes the addition this month of emerging company and VC partner Richard McDerby and his team,” the spokesperson said.

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