PALO ALTO, Calif.– Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that the firm is opening an office in Boulder, Colorado, from which it will support the region’s thriving life sciences businesses and other growth enterprises.
The firm’s Colorado office is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2022, and it will be located in downtown Boulder. In November 2021, Wilson Sonsini announced plans to open an office in Salt Lake City. Including Boulder, the firm has a total of 18 offices—13 in the U.S., three in Greater China, one in Brussels, and one in London.
Once open, the firm’s team in the Boulder office will include Wilson Sonsini partners Vern Norviel and Tony Jeffries, as well as several associates and staff professionals.
“Our firm’s attorneys have established a strong base of relationships with the many innovative entrepreneurs, companies, institutions, and investors in Boulder and other parts of Colorado and the Mountain West region,” said Doug Clark, managing partner of Wilson Sonsini. “Opening in Boulder reinforces our interest in expanding our life sciences and technology practice in that important market.”
According to a report by the Colorado BioScience Association in late 2021, more than 700 life sciences companies are located in Colorado, and in 2021 they raised a record $2.4 billion in financing—twice the amount raised in 2020 and the fifth consecutive year that the total raised exceeded $1 billion. Overall, Colorado companies raised $6.5 billion in venture financing in 2021, according to PitchBook’s Venture Monitor report.
Wilson Sonsini already represents clients in Colorado that fall into a range of life sciences sectors, including: drug discovery; biotech, genomics, and proteomics; screening and diagnostics; medical devices and supplies; pharmaceuticals; health services; and agtech and foodtech. In fact, the firm advised on a number of recent life sciences venture capital financings, M&A transactions, and IPOs in the region, including the 2021 IPO of Edgewise Therapeutics, a leader in the search for lifesaving medicines for rare muscular disorders, and the Series A financing for Foresight Diagnostics, which has developed promising technology for the early detection of cancers.
“Wilson Sonsini opening an office in Boulder validates Colorado’s status as a magnet for the disruptive companies that the firm has long represented and should provide valuable legal and business advisory insights to the growing life sciences industry here,” said Jake Chabon, co-founder and CEO of Foresight Diagnostics, which is headquartered at the Fitzsimons Innovation Center in Aurora, Colorado.
“With a physical presence in Boulder, we’re excited to bring the full capabilities of Wilson Sonsini to one of the fastest-growing markets for life sciences and technology in the U.S.,” said Norviel, an intellectual property partner who has worked with life sciences clients for more than 30 years and will split his time between Colorado and California. “Between the talented group we’ll have in Boulder and our broader team firmwide, we will represent clients at all stages across several areas, from corporate and intellectual property to technology transactions and regulatory compliance.”
Both Norviel and Jeffries, a corporate partner with more than 25 years of experience representing companies in IPOs, M&A deals, and venture capital financings, received undergraduate degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder, making their return to the area a homecoming.
“Our Boulder office will allow us to create deeper local connections, while drawing on all of the strengths of our firm’s life sciences group, which now includes more than 275 attorneys, patent agents, scientific advisors, and other professionals,” said Jeffries, who will also split his time between Colorado and Palo Alto.
