SAN FRANCISCO —The beachside corridor stretching from Venice to Santa Monica now houses hot startups such as Snapchat, incubators like Amplify L.A., cobbled-together campuses for both Google and Microsoft and, of course, lawyers. “There’s been a huge explosion here,” said David Sands, the cochairman of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton’s corporate practice group, who splits his time between the Los Angeles, Orange County and Century City offices.
Silicon Valley firms are taking different approaches to securing a piece of this mushrooming market. Nearly two years ago, Cooley made a splash by diving into Santa Monica, the epicenter of L.A.’s burgeoning startup scene. But Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Fenwick & West have decided, at least so far, that they can service Silicon Beach clients without putting lawyers on the ground.
