Paul Hastings Adds Leading Private Equity Team and Premier Capital Markets Partner

Palo Alto, Calif. – Paul Hastings LLP announced today that Scott Joachim, one of Silicon Valley’s leading private equity/M&A and VC lawyers with broad and deep experience in the technology space, has joined the firm as global vice chair of the Paul Hastings private equity practice. Joachim will be joined by two additional partners with extensive experience advising on tech-focused transactions, strategic investments, M&A, and growth equity and venture financings. David Ambler, a rising star in the areas of capital markets, public company advisory, and venture capital, also joins the firm.  

“We are excited to continue building our strong private equity and capital markets practices while also increasing our ability to serve PE, corporate, and investment banking clients focused on growth sectors that include technology and life sciences,” said firm Chair Frank Lopez. “With these extraordinary additions and others in the pipeline, we continue to bolster our presence in Northern California and more broadly in capital markets, PE, VC, and M&A.”

Joining from Goodwin Proctor LLP, Joachim represents leading private equity firms, venture capital investors, and corporates in the technology sector. Based in Palo Alto, his clients range from private equity firms like Accel-KKR and financial institutions including Goldman Sachs to fast-growing startups such as Symphony Communications. He was previously a partner at Fenwick & West, where he founded the firm’s PE and fintech practices.

Notably, Joachim has led some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent M&A deals, including Twitch Interactive, in its sale to Amazon; General Motors, in its acquisition of Cruise; Responsys, in its sale to Oracle; and Symantec, in its acquisition of Blue Coat Systems. His practice also focuses on fintech, representing many of the largest banks and other financial institutions—including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—in connection with consortia and other strategic transactions. Among other consortia deals, Joachim represented 35 banks in connection with a cross-border acquisition of blockchain company R3 and 15 banks in connection with an investment in Symphony Communications.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join forces with Paul Hastings’ premier global practice,” said Joachim. “Most importantly, we will be able to leverage the firm’s consistent excellence across multiple practice areas on behalf of our expanding client base. All of us joining are energized to work with our new colleagues in advancing the firm’s ambitious strategy to continue growing our California practice.” Joachim is expected to be joined soon at Paul Hastings by lawyers who bring additional experience representing diverse investors, including financial institutions and VC investors, in technology transactions, strategic investments, and growth equity and venture financings.

Formerly with Cooley LLP in Palo Alto, Ambler represents technology and life sciences companies at all stages of their growth cycles with a focus on emerging growth companies, as well as IPO-ready and publicly traded companies. He also advises underwriters, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan, as well as VC funds in public offerings and private financings. Ambler has been involved in more than 50 IPOs or other offerings over the past six years, including DocuSign in its $723.7 million IPO; Procore Technologies in its $678 million IPO; the underwriters in AvidXchange’s $674 million IPO; the underwriters in Datto’s $600 million IPO; PagerDuty in its $250 million IPO and $288 million convertible notes offering; and the underwriters in multiple follow-on offerings for Ping Identity.  

Ryan LaForce, widely regarded as a preeminent lawyer in technology transactions, is one of the additional partners joining with Joachim from Goodwin. With more than 20 years of experience, she represents many of the largest banks and other financial institutions in connection with consortia and other strategic transactions. Her clients include, among others, Citigroup and Declaration Partners. LaForce also advises private equity firms, growth capital and VC investors, emerging fintech companies, and entrepreneurs on strategic investments and growth equity and venture financings. Further, she brings in-house experience as a former assistant general counsel of Bain Capital.

The teams from Goodwin and Cooley represent the most recent additions to Paul Hastings’ robust and strategically important presence in California, as well as its growing focus on continuing to build its premier global corporate technology and life sciences, and M&A platforms. They follow capital markets and life sciences partners Seo Salimi and Will Magioncalda, and public company advisory partner Sean Donahue from Goodwin; fintech and payments team Dana Syracuse and Josh Boehm from Perkins Coie LLP; and M&A partners Kirk Lipsey and Chad Vance from Sidley Austin LLP and Jon Kubek from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Other notable California-based additions to the firm this year include white-collar and investigations lawyer Adam Fee from Milbank LLP; Ken Deutsch from Latham & Watkins LLP, who co-chairs the entertainment and media practice; complex litigator Susan Leader from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and IP litigator Rudy Kim from Morrison & Foerster LLP.

About Paul Hastings

With widely recognized elite teams in finance, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, restructuring and special situations, litigation, employment, and real estate, Paul Hastings is a premier law firm providing intellectual capital and superior execution globally to the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers, and corporations.