Freshfields Adds Silicon Valley M&A Partner From Debevoise (1)

Freshfields hired former Debevoise & Plimpton partner Aly Love to serve as co-head of its US tech & life sciences M&A practice based out of its Bay Area offices, the firm said on Wednesday.

Love represents buyers and sellers in mergers and acquisitions in the tech and life sciences sectors, advising both venture-backed and publicly traded companies as well as growth equity and venture capital funds, Freshfields said in a statement.

“Her experience representing pre- and post-IPO companies, as well as her sensitivities to the needs of venture investors and founders, make her a go-to resource for clients in Silicon Valley and around the globe,” Freshfields’ US managing partner Sarah Solum said in the statement.

The hire bolsters Freshfields’ Bay Area presence, which firm senior partner Georgia Dawson has called “transformational” for the firm since its 2021 launch. Since that time, US revenue at the UK-founded firm more than doubled to £391 million ($528 million) in 2024, according to the firm’s UK regulatory filings. The firm launched a Boston office earlier this year, bringing its US office count to five.

Freshfields’ success building a Silicon Valley practice was a major part of Love’s decision to join, she said in an interview.

“It’s very hard to break into the Bay Area and the tech markets,” Love said. “Lots of traditional East Coast and Magic Circle firms have tried, and no one has really succeeded as well and as quickly as Freshfields has.”

The Debevoise San Francisco office, meanwhile, is watching its second M&A partner depart this year. Top dealmaker Michael Diz left for Davis Polk & Wardwell in March after being among a group of 14 lawyers who started the office in 2021. The website now lists nine partners.

Debevoise’s new M&A co-chair, Christopher Anthony, told Bloomberg Law earlier this month that the firm’s high-profile deals group is focused on developing young talent inside the firm.

Debevoise ranked third in M&A deal value in the first quarter while Freshfields ranked fourth, according to Bloomberg Law’s league tables. The firms advised on $78.9 billion and $75.7 billion worth of deals, respectively.

Love had joined Debevoise in 2023 from Goodwin Procter, where she spent nearly a decade and was co-chair of its technology M&A practice.

Damien Zoubek, co-head of US corporate and M&A for Freshfields, said the firm’s growth in its US deals team has focused on building out geographic and industry coverage with a team of lawyers at every point in their career.

“We built it generationally, so it’s not just built around one person,” Zoubek said. “We think it’s going to sustain itself in a great way. We have geographic coverage and industry coverage. So, we kind of have everything that we need.”