Four years after entering Northern California, Boston-based Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is deciding whether to fish or cut bait in Palo Alto, Calif.

With its lease at 5 Palo Alto Square set to expire this month, the firm’s rapidly shrinking Silicon Valley office has fueled speculation that it would shut its doors here. But San Diego partner Eddie Rodriguez denies any plans to pull up stakes. “We’re not closing in the Bay Area,” he said. “If that were the truth, we would not have retained a national recruiting firm for a search in Northern California on a retainer.”