Goodwin Partner Joins Capital Markets Co-Leader in Latham Move

Latham & Watkins has hired two new Bay Area partners from Goodwin Procter, including Rick Kline, whose move was previously reported by Bloomberg Law, and Sarah Axtell.

Kline, who co-chaired Goodwin Procter’s capital markets practice, specializes in corporate and securities law with a focus on capital markets transactions and public company representation. His move was reported by Bloomberg Law in early November.

Axtell became a partner at Goodwin last year. She was a member of the firm’s technology and life sciences group, specializing in advising emerging-growth technology companies.

“Rick and Sarah’s arrival further demonstrates our commitment to growing our Bay Area practice, and their robust experience advising companies throughout their entire life cycle will be of tremendous value to our clients,” Latham corporate chair Marc Jaffe said in a statement.

Tad Freese, managing partner of Latham’s Silicon Valley office, said the new hires reflected Latham’s focus on the tech and life sciences industries, “two engines driving the global economy.”

Kline joined Goodwin in 2011 from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and as previously reported by Bloomberg Law, has led a slew of high-profile tech IPOs, including Slack Technologies Inc.’s direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2019. He also represented JP Morgan as an underwriter in Lyft’s $2.6 billion IPO in 2019 and Morgan Stanley in Snap Inc.’s $3.4 billion IPO in 2017. Axtell was a member of his team on the Slack and Lyft listings.

Goodwin spokeswoman Somna Maraj said “we wish Rick and Sarah all the best.”

The two attorneys’ move to Latham was brokered by Sabina Lippman, partner and co-founder of global legal recruitment firm Lippman Jungers Bala.