Wilson Sonsini Enters Salt Lake as Silicon Slopes Lure Big Law

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is opening an office in Salt Lake City, as another Big Law firm is lured to the area for its pool of lawyers and growing start-up scene.

The Silicon Valley-founded law firm said Tuesday it would hire Utah Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas for the office when he retires in March of next year. The firm also hired former Holland & Hart corporate partner Marc Porter, while Matt Squires, a Seattle-based Wilson Sonsini partner, will relocate there.

Long overlooked, Salt Lake City has been an increasingly popular destination for Big Law firms. The city has a rising start-up scene dubbed the “Silicon Slopes,” and law firms have become comfortable opening smaller outposts following pandemic-driven epiphanies about the capabilities of working remotely.

Firms are also entering new markets to gain access to more attorneys during a surge in demand that has created intense workloads for Big Law corporate departments.

“Our expansion into Salt Lake City will allow us to better serve Utah’s innovative companies, as well as the investors and institutions that support them,” Doug Clark, Wilson Sonsini’s managing partner, said in a statement.

Kirkland & Ellis, the country’s largest law firm by revenue, opened an office in Salt Lake City in September, saying it was lured to the market by its “extraordinary talent pool.”

Last month, Foley & Lardner opened an office in the city, luring a team of IP litigators from a boutique firm. The city has in recent years attracted other law firms, including Dentons, Quinn Emanuel, and Lewis Brisbois.

For its part, Wison Sonsini has had a presence in Salt Lake through its automation subsidiary, SixFifty, which started in 2019.

The firm said in a statement it has a long track record of advising Utah-based venture capital firms on initial public offerings and has done substantial M&A work in the Beehive State.

Wilson Sonsini previously opened a Salt Lake City office in 2001, closing it in 2007, according to media reports.

In Himonas, Wilson Sonsini brings on board an active member of the legal innovation scene. He helped develop Utah’s Office of Legal Services Innovation and led efforts to launch a regulatory experiment, or “sandbox” in the state. That effort allows non-traditional legal providers to offer services, including entities with non-lawyer investment or ownership.