The firm announces the addition of Rod J. Howard, Peter S. Buckland, and Joseph K. Wyatt to its newly established office in Palo Alto, California. The three new hires have joined Curtis L. Mo, who opened the Palo Alto office in June.

Rod Howard joins Wilmer Hale as a partner in the Corporate Department and will help lead the firm’s mergers and acquisitions efforts. Howard, formerly of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, is a seasoned mergers and acquisitions attorney in Silicon Valley. He represents numerous public and private companies, financial investors and investment banks in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, negotiated and contested takeovers, auctions, cross-border transactions, leveraged buyouts, and takeover defense. He also counsels senior management and boards of directors of major public companies on corporate governance and SEC compliance matters. Howard was previously a partner and global head of mergers and acquisitions at a major Silicon Valley law firm.

Peter Buckland and Joe Wyatt each join the firm as Counsel in the firm’s Corporate Department. Both have extensive experience in representing companies ranging from emerging growth companies to public companies in capital markets transactions, private placements, venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate matters. They are also experienced in advising investment banks as underwriters’ counsel and private equity sponsors in leveraged buyouts. Buckland and Wyatt were formerly with the Silicon Valley office of Weil, Gotshal & Manages LLP.

“I am thrilled to join the Wilmer Hale team,” said Rod Howard. “The firm is a well-known leader in the technology and life sciences sectors, and I look forward to working with them to build the Palo Alto office, which is already off to a great start.”

“I am excited to be working once again with my colleagues and friends,” said Curtis Mo, partner and head of WilmerHale’s Palo Alto office. “As our West Coast office continues to attract more high-level talent, we will continue to provide the best legal representation for our clients.”

WilmerHale’s new Palo Alto office was established to extend the firm’s corporate, intellectual property, intellectual property litigation, and securities litigation and enforcement practices. The corporate practice is known for its preeminence in the representation of technology and life sciences companies in the United States and Europe. Through the Palo Alto office, the firm will be able to better serve those clients who are based on the West Coast and, more specifically, in Silicon Valley—the largest technology, life sciences, and venture capital market in the world.