Attendees at the official opening of A&L Goodbody’s San Francisco office heard from successful technology entrepreneur and founder of Stripe, Inc.
Patrick Collison that Ireland is a key hub for technology talent in Europe. A&L Goodbody is the first Irish law firm to open an office in San Francisco, their second location on the west coast and third in the US – with the firm’s other offices located in Palo Alto and New York. The office will service the full range of US corporation doing business in Ireland as well as Irish businesses and entrepreneurs doing business on the West Coast of America.
The official opening was attended by over 200 of the firm’s clients and advisors who heard from Collison as well as John Whelan, who leads A&L Goodbody’s International Technology Group and is head of the San Francisco office.
Speaking at the event, Whelan said, “San Francisco is the financial capital of the west coast so it makes sense for us to have a presence here, following the opening of our thriving office in Palo Alto two years ago. After San Francisco, Ireland is seen as the next go-to place for technology talent, with companies talking about their expansion from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Docks in Dublin. Our practice in California has been established to help US firms mange this process, in doing their European business through Ireland – something which we are excited to build on with the opening of our San Francisco office.”
Stripe’s Patrick Collison added, "The Bay Area remains the hub of activity for entrepreneurs. It's exciting here. I was at the Web Summit in Dublin a few weeks ago, and Dublin is the happening place in Europe for tech, maybe followed by Berlin. The corridor between the West Coast of America and Ireland is facilitating and driving cross border investment and entrepreneurial activity. It is great to see a firm like A&L Goodbody open an office in San Francisco to develop and build the bridge between the Valley and the huge talent that continues to come out of Ireland."
Article Published: 29/11/2013