From Silicon Valley to Silicon Beach, a New Legal Community Emerges in LA

Southern California's Silicon Beach has been taking shape for years. The coastal strip that spans the distance between the Los Angeles International Airport and the Santa Monica Mountains is now home to hundreds of entrepreneurs and startups.

As more businesses flock to this fast-growing tech community, they have brought their lawyers along, into a legal ecosystem that has traditionally been known for serving the media and entertainment industry.

Santa Monica (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)

Since 2012, five tech-centric law firms—Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Cooley, Fenwick & West, and Goodwin Procter—have all planted flags in Silicon Beach. (Goodwin has Boston roots, but the other four are all based in Silicon Valley.)