Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has bolstered its intellectual property litigation capabilities in Silicon Valley by bringing on partner Sonal Mehta from Durie Tangri.

Wilmer announced Tuesday that Mehta has joined the firm as a partner in its Palo Alto office. Prior to the move, Mehta was at Durie Tangri for four years, where she had worked alongside Wilmer attorneys on some matters for a common client.

"I'm really excited to be able to join them, having seen them work over the last several years, and the international platform, and the breadth, and the depth of the talent, especially in the IP and technology sectors, were hugely appealing to me," Mehta said. "I think [the move] will really allow me to continue to serve my clients as my practice continues to grow and evolve."

Mehta started practicing in Silicon Valley when she joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges 17 years ago. For nearly two decades in the Bay Area, she has represented an array of technology companies in high-stakes patent and technology disputes. Some of her notable clients include Facebook, Twitter and Electronic Arts, Wilmer said.

"Patent litigation matters are taking on more of an international or global scale," Mehta said, explaining that as Silicon Valley companies mature their legal problems have also evolved over the years.

"There are now more large entities that are aggregating patents and asserting them than there were some years ago," she said.

With Mehta's addition, Wilmer's Silicon Valley office, which opened in 2005, will have 48 attorneys.

"Sonal is a highly-respected and accomplished IP bar leader and litigator with whom a number of WilmerHale IP litigators have worked closely over the years," Susan Murley, co-managing partner of Wilmer, said in a statement. "Her addition to the WilmerHale team reaffirms our commitment to provide our IP clients the best legal talent on the West Coast and beyond."

The Washington, D.C.-based firm also opened a new San Francisco office early in the year, which has grown to 10 lawyers. Including 27 more in Los Angeles, the firm has a total of 85 lawyers in California. Though early in the year, Wilmer did experience a loss in California as Randall Lee, a longtime partner who spent the past decade building out the firm's Los Angeles office, left to join Cooley.

At the same day as Wilmer announced Mehta's addition, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher also announced that it has added Joshua Lerner, another former Durie Tangri partner, as a partner in its San Francisco office. Gibson Dunn said Lerner will continue to focus on litigating major complex commercial matters.

In a statement responding to the partners' departures, a spokesperson from Durie Tangri said: "Our friends and partners Sonal Mehta and Josh Lerner have announced their decision to move to a new phase in their careers. It's been a pleasure and a privilege having Josh and Sonal as our partners, and we wish them the absolute best."

The statement continued, "Our firm remains committed to its founding vision: To provide our clients top-notch trial and litigation service and to provide our partners and associates opportunities to grow and develop their practices in a supportive environment committed to excellence."

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