Morrison & Foerster LLP, a San Francisco-based law firm which has been in San Diego since October, has spent the current year expanding. Since Jan. 1 it has grown from three to 25 attorneys.
Fourteen of the new attorneys at Morrison’s Carmel Valley office have come from the Downtown San Diego office of Baker & McKenzie. Most specialize in intellectual property litigation.
They include David C. Doyle and Craig I. Celniker, who are partners in their new firm, and Michael W. Vella, who is of counsel.
Also coming from Baker & McKenzie are associates Steven E. Comer, Brett D. Ekins, Charles S. Evendorff, Kenji L. Funahashi, Robert M. Harkins Jr., Helen S. Irza, Richard C. Kim, Joseph W. Secondine, Michael J. Shea, Mark Andrew “Drew” Woodmansee and George C. Yu.
While it has new hires of its own, the local Baker & McKenzie office has a net loss of attorneys, said Abby Silverman, managing partner. She said her office is able to draw on the resources of a 60-office network to serve clients. Baker & McKenzie, an international law firm based in Chicago, has roughly 2,500 attorneys.
Other new attorneys at Morrison & Foerster include Laurie A. Axford, of counsel, who came from Foley & Lardner in San Diego, and Rick Bergstrom, associate, who came from Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps.
Morrison & Foerster has more than 850 lawyers in 10 domestic and seven overseas offices.
