Perkins Coie Announces New Office in Austin

The firm's entry into Silicon Hills highlights its growth in the United States and expanding presence in key markets known for technology and emerging companies.

AUSTIN, Texas (February 13, 2020) - Perkins Coie, an Am Law 50 firm known for representing innovative companies and industry leaders, announced today that it has opened an office in Austin, marking an expansion of its Texas operations. Establishing an office in Austin furthers the firm's momentum in building a strong tech-based practice in Texas and broadens its ability to counsel companies across the state, including those in computer electronics and other technology industries as well as those in the retail, transportation, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries, as they increasingly adopt technology-related platforms and applications.

"We see significant strategic opportunities in Texas as Austin and Dallas continue to grow as business centers for startups, medium-sized companies, and large, global corporations," said Perkins Coie's Firmwide Managing Partner Bill Malley. "Opening an office in Austin with an impressive team of new partners positions us to better serve existing clients and secure new business. The feedback we've received from this expansion has been enthusiastic, and steps are already underway to add new attorneys and other professionals to our new Austin office."

Perkins Coie entered the Texas market 10 years ago by opening its Dallas office, which today has 30 lawyers across a range of practices with particular strength in technology and privacy.

"We continue to build our reputation as a leading technology and privacy firm for many of the state's biggest companies," said Dallas Office Managing Partner Dean Harvey. "We're excited to welcome our new colleagues in Austin and work with them to further the firm's service to clients throughout Texas."

Three partners with extensive experience in technology and other industries are joining the Austin office, the firm's 20th. They include:

• Andy Smetana, an experienced corporate lawyer who represents entrepreneurs and investors in a wide variety of technology and high-growth enterprises. He advises emerging companies and investors in venture capital, private equity, and other strategic financings, buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions, and issuers and underwriters in public offerings. In addition to helping clients with bet-the-company transactions, Andy routinely advises clients on corporate governance matters. He joins from Vinson & Elkins and was previously general counsel for Vapor IO.
• Craig Tyler, a veteran trial and appellate lawyer, who has 20 years of experience litigating trade secrets and patent infringements/validity matters in federal and state courts for clients in the LED, LCD, software, internet, telecommunications, medical device, pharmaceutical, gaming, e-learning, semiconductor, VoIP, computer-assisted hardware, and oil and gas industries. He joins from Vinson & Elkins.
• Jose Villarreal, a veteran litigator, trial counsel, and advisor to technology and growth companies, who focuses on patent litigation and alternative dispute resolution, strategic intellectual property counseling, intellectual property licensing, and merger and acquisition due diligence. Jose has represented clients in numerous federal district courts around the country and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He joins from Wilson Sonsini.

Along with its notable growth in both revenue and lawyer headcount over the past five years, Perkins Coie has achieved one of the highest lateral retention rates among large law firms and has been repeatedly recognized for its collegial and inclusive culture. This includes being named to Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for the past 17 years.