Morrison & Foerster Adds Perkins Coie Partners in California

Morrison & Foerster said Tuesday it added two corporate partners from Perkins Coie, Daphne M. Higgs and Teresa M.L. Tate, to its California offices.

Higgs joins the firm’s technology transactions group in Palo Alto, and Tate joins the mergers and acquisitions and emerging companies and venture capital groups in San Francisco.

Higgs and Tate “are both highly accomplished lawyers from historically underrepresented groups who bring deep knowledge of the technology industry to the firm,” Eric McCrath, co-chair of Morrison & Foerster global corporate departments, said in a statement.

Morrison & Foerster’s hiring announcement comes a week after it opened an office in Austin, Texas with four partners. The Austin office is the firm’s 17th.

Higgs, who represents clients in complex technology transactions, had been managing partner of Perkins Coie’s Palo Alto office and co-chair of the firm’s Women of Color group.

She represents clients in complex technology transactions, with an emphasis on artificial intelligence, machine learning and other methods.

Tate had been a corporate partner in Perkins Coie’s M&A and ECVC groups and served as chair of the diversity committee in its San Francisco office.

She has worked on a number of mergers and acquisitions, including representing Aptitude Software in its acquisition of RevStream Inc. and Blackmore Sensors & Analytics in its sale to Aurora Innovation Inc.

Tate’s hire follows that of ECVC partner Paul Navarro in Los Angeles earlier this month, and of a San Francisco-based team in February led by Michael Glaser and Mike LaPlante. All three attorneys previously worked at Perkins Coie.

Higgs and Tate “will have an immediate impact for our clients and platform,” McCrath said.