Mountain View, CA (January 19, 2016)– Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized as Technology Group of the Year by Law360 for the third consecutive year.
“We’re really fortunate to work with the most innovative technology companies and to have had the privilege of doing so for many years,” Fenwick managing partner Kate Fritz told Law360. Part of the firms’ success is “attracting lawyers that like to be ahead of the curve on all things tech,” she added.
“Whether steering Facebook through a series of startup grabs or handling Fitbit’s $840 million initial public offering, Fenwick & West LLP answered the calls of the biggest names in Silicon Valley in 2015,” Law360’s profile begins.
The profile references Fenwick’s work for client Facebook on four acquisitions of companies involved in virtual reality, speech recognition and other technologies, along with leading Fitbit through “an IPO that trampled expectations.” Fenwick’s work on Fitbit’s IPO marked the second consecutive year that the firm handled the largest tech IPO in the United States.
Alan Smith, chair of Fenwick’s corporate group, told Law360 that Fenwick’s “rapid and high-quality handling of complex legal needs has kept it at the top of the rolodex for 20 percent of the ‘unicorns’ of the tech world, the industry’s nickname for billion-dollar startups.”
Smith referenced how Fenwick’s consistent team of lawyers “have developed a model of practices, forms and process management that is very efficient and effective at delivering a high-quality product to the client.”
He also mentioned how Fenwick has avoided clinging to old business models by “adopting the mindset of its techie clients to maximize efficiency and anticipate their needs.”
As examples of the firm’s innovation, Smith highlighted the firm’s “proprietary electronic ShareRooms, a highly secure client portal that helps facilitate communication and data collection, as well as FLEX, a Fenwick startup that provides in-house legal needs to tech companies.”
This type of learning and innovation underscores Fenwick’s number one ranking among law firms globally for volume of technology, media and telecommunications mergers and acquisitions completed through the third quarter of 2015.
The Law360 profile praises Fenwick’s transactions practice, backed by “a versatile litigation bench seasoned in patent, copyright and other intellectual property cases from the tech sector.” The practice’s strength is reflected by its recognition in Chambers USA for securities litigation, The National Law Journal’s IP Hot List for outstanding patent, copyright, trademark and IP litigation services, and in the U.S. News – Best Lawyers Best Law Firms guide as a first-tier for IP litigation and patent litigation.
Law360 notes that Fenwick “has become well-known among its startup clients for deflecting post-IPO investor class actions, securing settlements in 2015 for separate cases involving Vocera Communications Inc. and Model N Inc.” The publication also highlighted Fenwick’s work in securing $5.6 million in attorneys’ fees and costs after defeating a copyright infringement suit from Perfect 10 against Usenet service providers Giganews and Livewire.
Smith said that he is excited about the firm’s market share in the tech industry headed into 2016, and that Fenwick aims to “anticipate the way legal services are provided in the future.”
To view Fenwick's full Technology Group of the Year profile, please visit the Law360 website (subscription required).
About Fenwick & West
Fenwick & West provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies – at every stage of their lifecycle – and the investors that partner with them. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders. For information about a career at Fenwick visit us at fenwick.com/careers.