Alston & Bird has expanded its antitrust practice in San Francisco by bringing on Baker Botts litigation partner Stuart Plunkett, who is also the current president of the Bar Association of San Francisco.

Plunkett said he moved to Alston & Bird, which opened an office in San Francisco in 2017, because of the firm's strong commitment to antitrust litigation in California. He particularly pointed to Teresa Bonder and Valarie Williams, now his partners, who both moved from Atlanta to Alston & Bird's young Bay Area location.

He is the Atlanta-founded firm's 18th lawyer in the city, according to its website.

"I can't think of another out-of-state firm with a San Francisco office that could demonstrate that kind of commitment to antitrust litigation in the Northern District of California," said Plunkett, who joined Alston & Bird on Monday.

Plunkett also does commercial litigation. He said the Northern District of California is a hotbed for antitrust litigation, because it has an active Dept. of Justice field office.

Bonder, a co-leader of Alston & Bird's national antitrust team and the partner in charge of Alston & Bird's San Francisco office, said in a press release that Plunkett handles high-stakes, high-profile litigation.

Plunkett also said moving to Alston & Bird is like a homecoming of sorts, because he previously worked with partner Michael Agoglia and counsel James McCabe at Morrison & Foerster.

Plunkett practiced at Morrison & Foerster for 16 years before joining Baker Botts in 2016, shortly after the Texas firm launched its San Francisco office. He was the firm's hiring partner in San Francisco.

Since it opened in 2016, Baker Botts' San Francisco office has grown to 36 lawyers, according to the firm's website. Over the course of just two months last fall, the firm added five partners in the Bay Area.

While both Baker Botts and Alston & Bird have offices in San Francisco and Palo Alto, Alston & Bird also has a location in Los Angeles, Plunkett said, which was an additional selling point in his decision to join the firm.

He declined to identify clients, but according to filings in the Northern District of California, he recently worked on litigation for Global Industrial Investment, AT&T Mobility and Conversant Wireless Licensing. His antitrust clients are in the technology, energy, transportation and financial services industries, and he also does securities litigation and consumer product liability class actions.

When asked to comment on Plunkett's departure, a spokesman for Baker Botts said in a written statement: "We thank Stuart for his work at the firm and wish him the very best in his next endeavor."

Over the past year, lawyers who joined Alston & Bird's office include Williams, who relocated from Atlanta, and Greg Christianson, an environmental partner who moved from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

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