National law firm Wilson Elser is pleased to announce that Bill Hake, founder of Bay Area–based Hake Law, and 15 members of his team, including attorneys, paralegals and staff, have joined the firm’s San Francisco office effective April 1.
Wilson Elser has added a total of four partners from Hake Law, including Bill Hake, Melissa Ippolito, Nicolas Martin and Lucy Hoff, and four associates, including Gardiner McKleroy, Jeremy Berla, Molly Friend and Whitney Barnecut, bringing the total attorney headcount in Wilson Elser’s San Francisco office to 40.
Wilson Elser continues to grow with strategic lateral recruitment across the country. Over the past four years, the firm has joined forces with strong regional firms, resulting in new offices in Louisville, Kentucky, and Milwaukee Wisconsin, and nearly doubling the size of its presence in Houston, Texas. In that time, the firm also opened new offices, expanding its geographic footprint, in Denver, Colorado; Hartford, Connecticut; and West Palm Beach, Florida.
Hake Law was primarily a defense litigation firm focused on product liability, construction defects, D&O, catastrophic injury, toxic tort, white collar criminal, class action and complex litigation defense.
According to Mr. Hake, Wilson Elser’s national platform and aligned services convinced him to move his practice from the small boutique he started three years ago to one of the 50 largest firms in the country.
“We are thrilled to have Bill and his group on board,” shared Daniel J. McMahon, Wilson Elser chairman. “They add tremendous depth and breadth to our bench of trial attorneys in the areas of civil and commercial litigation to the San Francisco office and the broader firm.”
“With 30 years in practice, Bill has developed a stellar reputation among clients, adversaries and judges in all the jurisdictions in which he practices,” added Ralph Robinson, managing partner of Wilson Elser’s San Francisco region. “Our clients will benefit from his ability to creatively resolve litigation and prevail in cases of all kinds. Bill’s clients will enjoy the benefits of a full-service national firm with skilled attorneys who, like Bill, know how to effectively manage litigation and win cases.”
Prior to Hake Law, Mr. Hake, AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell, was a founding partner with Cooley Manion Jones Hake Kurowski and worked with two other firms in San Francisco. He also served as an assistant district attorney for the city and county of San Francisco. His practice includes trial, arbitration and mediation in state and federal courts across the United States.
For the past 25 years, Mr. Hake has taught at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University School of Law and Stanford University School of Law, and has lectured for the California State Bar Continuing Education Program and the University of San Francisco School of Law. He earned his J.D. degree from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.
Mr. Hake is a member of the Association of Defense Counsel of Northern and Southern California, DRI, and the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sonoma county bar associations.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Mr. Hake is committed to his community. He has served in leadership positions on the Ross Valley Soccer Club (past president), the Tidalwave Swim Club (past president) and the Central Marin Soccer League (vice president). He also sat on the board of the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association.
More information about new partners Ms. Ippolito, Mr. Martin and Ms. Hoff, and new associates Mr. McKleroy, Mr. Berla, Ms. Friend and Ms. Barnecut, is available on Wilson Elser’s website.
