DLA Piper Warsaw office. Shutterstock.com

DLA Piper has brought on two more attorneys in California from other Big Law firms.

Evelyn Kim, who was a partner at Baker McKenzie for the past three years, has joined DLA Piper’s San Francisco office. And from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, corporate attorney Patrick Anding has joined DLA Piper as a partner in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Kim said she is bringing over $4 million in business to DLA Piper, and "I can leverage the extensive DLA Piper platform to continue to accelerate the growth of my practice." She said she has seen partners grow a practice of that size into a $20 million book of business on DLA Piper's platform.

Kim focuses on project finance related to renewable energy generation facilities. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie’s San Francisco office in 2016, she practiced at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius for two years and Foley & Lardner for nine years before that.

As a woman of color, Kim added that she was also drawn to the firm's "open" and "objective" compensation structure.

“As we continue to improve our ability to serve the growing renewable energy market in California, Evelyn's deep understanding of the needs of clients in this sector will be an important component of our platform,” Sang Kim, DLA Piper’s regional managing partner for Northern California, said in a statement. “Her work in solar energy and other areas also makes her a valuable resource for our technology sector practice, and we are pleased to welcome her to the firm.”

Anding, whose practice focuses on startups, emerging technology and media companies, said he was attracted to DLA Piper’s growing Los Angeles presence and expertise in the media entertainment space.

“Los Angeles over the past 10 years has really developed into a pretty vibrant technology scene,” Anding said.

Anding started as an associate in Wilson Sonsini’s San Diego office in 2010. He left for a year to serve as sole in-house attorney for BandPage, where he handled intellectual property, licensing and commercial legal matters for the music technology and content distribution company. He returned to Wilson Sonsini in 2013.

“As we continue to expand our presence in Southern California, we are focused on adding first-tier lawyers like Patrick who bring significant skills and experience in key sectors including technology, media and entertainment and life sciences,” Stuart Liner, co-managing partner of DLA Piper’s two Los Angeles offices, said in a statement.

DLA Piper has seen its Los Angeles operations drastically expand since its acquisition of 60-lawyer boutique Liner LLP in 2017. Including recent additions, such as former Baker McKenzie tax partners Daniel Robyn and Joseph Myszka, and former Boies Schiller Flexner partner Michael Jay, the firm now has 66 lawyers in Century City and 29 in its downtown office. But it also lost partner Ellyn Garofalo, a veteran trial attorney, to Venable’s Los Angeles office late last year.

The international firm has been busy growing in California over the past year. According to DLA Piper, the roughly 3,700-lawyer firm currently has about 358 lawyers in California, which breaks down to 163 in Northern California and 195 in Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

Asked for comment on Anding's departure, a spokesperson for Wilson Sonsini said the firm wishes him well.

Baker McKenzie did not respond to a request for comment.

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