Kuwana joined Katten in 2006 from Patton Boggs, where he was deputy chair of the firm’s litigation department. His notable cases at Katten have included representing alt-right media outfit Breitbart in a defamation suit brought by former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod; securing a $235 million judgment against Lennar, a publicly traded homebuilder; and successfully defending Costco and a food supplier in a products liability case tied to a hepatitis A outbreak.

Bay Area-based Cooley’s strong financial performance over the last year will likely help its concerted effort to grow its footprint on the East Coast. Cooley’s annual gross revenue cracked the $1 billion threshold for 2017, and the firm has added more than 50 lawyers in D.C. in the last four years.

At 52 years old, Kuwana said he expects he will ”hopefully” remain at Cooley for the rest of his career. He said it was a “very tough” decision to leave Katten, and, while a handful of lawyers on his core team will join him at Cooley, he said he has no plans to recruit others from his former firm.