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1 février, 2008 10:02

Kellie Schmitt

The Recorder

01-31-2008

Atlanta-based King & Spalding is venturing into California, poaching at least eight attorneys from Perkins Coie's Silicon Valley office.

Edward Wes Jr., Perkins Coie's managing partner in the Valley, confirmed that partners Paul Andre and Lisa Kobialka, who are married, will leave the firm and take a group of associates with them to King & Spalding.

"It's a very competitive market in Silicon Valley, so it's not a surprise," he said. "We all get calls."

King & Spalding is widely considered a top-notch firm in the Southeast, but experts predicted a tough road ahead for its first foray into the Valley.

"There is still a long list of firms that are eyeing Silicon Valley, and those who are already here are looking to expand," said Silicon Valley recruiter Carl Baier, who stressed the importance of brand-name recognition when attracting new hires.

The 800-lawyer King & Spalding already has nine offices across the East Coast and abroad. Its most recent domestic addition was in Charlotte, N.C., where it opened last summer. That followed a Riyadh office in April, and one in Dubai in December 2006.

A spokesman wouldn't comment on the planned California move, saying King & Spalding does not discuss "specifics of our firm's proprietary business strategies."

"We can say that we regularly evaluate ways to better serve our clients, which may include investigating that possibility," according to a statement from a firm spokesman. "Beyond that, we can neither confirm nor deny any ongoing discussions regarding a new office anywhere in the world."

On the East Coast, King & Spalding is considered a top-tier firm, said William Brennan, an East Coast-based recruiter with Altman Weil. It ranked 36th on last year's Am Law 100, with Recorder affiliate The American Lawyer magazine crediting it with $582.5 million in gross revenue for 2006, and profits per partner of just over $1.3 million.

The firm's strategy of hiring locally for a Silicon Valley debut is a smart one, he said.

"It's extremely difficult to penetrate a new market by transferring your own lawyers," Brennan said. "Firms have to hire local lawyers on the ground because they have the contacts and connections that are necessary."

One of the departing Perkins partners said he had to keep mum on the deal.

"At this point, I'm not permitted to comment on this at all," Andre said on Tuesday. Kobialka did not return a call seeking comment.

Andre is a well-known IP litigator in the Valley and has been a player at several major firms. He joined Perkins in 2003 after working at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges for a few years. Before that, he was with now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison for several years, as well as Clifford Chance in New York.

Kobialka also worked for Quinn Emanuel and Brobeck. At Perkins, she served as the head of the commercial litigation practice in the Silicon Valley office.

Perkins' Wes said the departures will probably not affect the 50-lawyer office's workflow.

"The litigation clients of the firm are clients of the firm," he said.