What's with all the new SF offices? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Deb, Paul Weiss, Wilmer, Cleary, and I'm sure several other firms have opened up offices in SF since 2019. What's driving this? Seems like they're mostly lit-focused and mostly catering to mature tech clients, but why now? Also, does anyone have vibes on these offices--I've heard chatter about Deb being a growth center and PW has some strong lit talent, but I don't know much more about them.

[SamuelDanforth]

Why did John Dillinger rob banks?

[Anonymous User]

Interviewed with a firm that opened an SF office in the past two years, the associate there said theres a ton of regulatory and advisory work coming in. They said the SF office was the busiest one for 2021

[Anonymous User]

at one of the new sf offices and happy to answer any questions. don't want to be specific about which one considering we have barely any attorneys in our office

[Anonymous User]

That’s not that many firms. I think 20-30 firms have opened Boston offices since 2017 or so. Firms probably just want to expand their tech reach in SF.

[Anonymous User]

That’s not that many firms. I think 20-30 firms have opened Boston offices since 2017 or so. Firms probably just want to expand their tech reach in SF.

I think the point is more so that the timing is weird. The tech industry isn't new, and the Bay Area has been a major legal market for decades, so why now? I don't know much about Boston's legal market, but the situation there seems to be more easily traceable with growing industry.

[Anonymous User]

I think in general firms have been getting used to multiple satellite offices scattered around the country. It's practical, and with increased remote/hybrid work, more feasible.

[Anonymous User]

May have something to do with the size and frequency of tech acquisitions in recent years, think Slack, One Medical, Activision and countless smaller acquisitions. Big techs have been on a buying spree for a few years now but it takes a while for firms to catch up with opening new offices, much like firms opening SF/SV offices around 2000.

[Anonymous User]

See all those explanations would make sense if we were talking about these offices being primarily transactional, but they're really not. Almost all of them are litigation-focused and specifically internal investigations-focused (see, e.g. Jenner). Is SF just the new frontier for high-stakes litigation and white collar work?

[Anonymous User]

See all those explanations would make sense if we were talking about these offices being primarily transactional, but they're really not. Almost all of them are litigation-focused and specifically internal investigations-focused (see, e.g. Jenner). Is SF just the new frontier for high-stakes litigation and white collar work?

Huh interesting. I don't have SF knowledge but my impression (based on vibes and seeing a handful of new offices) is that it's easier to open a new office with litigation folks than with transactional. And the after it's established they tent to staff up transactional.