Charlotte Westfall and Victor Marquez of Squire Patton Boggs (Courtesy photos).

Squire Patton Boggs has hired two former CKR Law partners to bolster its cross-border corporate and real estate practices in San Francisco.

Charlotte Westfall and Victor Marquez joined Squire's San Francisco office as partners on Oct. 9. Their departure from CKR adds to a string of defections at the New York-based law firm after its financial struggles came to light earlier this year.

Westfall was at CKR Law for five years, while Marquez practiced at the firm for less than a year. Before that, Marquez had his own law firm for 18 years.

"The reason that I considered and ultimately came to Squire Patton Boggs is because of the platform that they're able to offer me to expand my geographical area of providing services to clients throughout California, and also beyond California to other states, as well to international markets," Marquez said.

Marquez's practice focuses on real estate transactions, land use and zoning law. He also handles general commercial litigation, state and local government relations and community outreach in the context of land development.

"Although my No. 1 priority is real estate, there will be an opportunity to do some policy work and I'm very excited about doing [that] here locally in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Sacramento or in Washington D.C." Marquez said. He noted that Squire's resources "open up new doors" for him to do more policy work.

In a statement commenting on her move to Squire, Westfall also said she was attracted to the firm's international presence.

"Squire Patton Boggs has a diverse cross-border corporate practice with a long-standing presence and strong reputation in Asia," she said. "The firm offers an ideal platform to grow my practice, and I'm excited to work with my new colleagues."

Westfall handles venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions, and SEC compliance matters. As a native Mandarin speaker, she also provides strategic market entry, marketing, branding and corporate development advice to Chinese companies seeking to enter the U.S., as well as U.S. companies entering China.

"Charlotte and Victor deepen our West Coast practice in several strategic areas," Northern California managing partner Linda Pfatteicher said in a statement. "Their mix of international clients and local market connections aligns with our practice here in California and we are delighted to have them join the team."

With Westfall and Marquez's addition, Squire will have nearly 70 attorneys in San Francisco, according to the firm's website.

CKR Law wished Westfall and Marquez well in a statement, adding "CKR Law is committed to the San Francisco market and we anticipate adding new talent in this market in the near term."

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