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Winston & Strawn has hired litigation partner Donald Davidson, the fourth attorney to come to the firm's offices in California in the past month.
Davidson, a former federal prosecutor and deputy general counsel of UBS Financial Services, joined Winston & Strawn's San Francisco office Tuesday from Bingham McCutchen.
His hire represents a push to grow in California, said Joan Fife, managing partner of Winston & Strawn's San Francisco office. In early January, IP partner Michael Tomasulo joined Winston & Strawn in Los Angeles from Dickstein Shapiro, bringing two associates with him.
"You can expect to see more lateral hires in our California offices," Fife said.
Davidson said no other Bingham attorneys plan to move with him at present.
Winston & Strawn hopes to use lateral hires to expand its work in financial services litigation, IP litigation and midmarket private equity, among other practices, Fife said. Davidson has represented clients in inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA and the Department of Justice regarding municipal finance, market timing, insider trading and revenue sharing, among other issues. His experience will deepen the firm's securities and regulatory practices on the West Coast, Fife noted.
"That's a strength for the firm, and we wanted to ensure that we had that strength throughout the country," Fife said.
Davidson said he came to Winston & Strawn in hopes of diversifying his practice.
"At Bingham, I had been in a practice group that exclusively represented broker dealers and investment advisers," he said. "With my white-collar and jury trial experience, I wanted to also be able to work on other kinds of matters."
He added that he was drawn to the firm by its litigation prowess, a strength that his clients recognize, too.
Legal recruiters Larry Watanabe and Ken Schwartz of Watanabe Nason brokered Davidson's move.
