Latham & Watkins has hired Page Mailliard as a partner in the firm's emerging companies practice, as Mailliard herself re-emerges into the practice of law after taking a step back in 2014 to nurse her mother through an illness. Mailliard was most recently a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she spent almost three decades before stepping down in 2014 to care for her mother.
Mailliard primarily represents technology and life sciences companies on matters including fundraising, global expansion and mergers and acquisitions. Her return to practicing law also reunites her with Jack Sheridan, the former co-managing partner of Wilson Sonsini who joined Latham in March. As a member of several Wilson Sonsini management committees, she worked closely with Sheridan, and she said his presence at her new firm helped persuade her to come onboard.
"I can't speak more highly of Wilson Sonsini, but this is just an opportunity to take my practice to another level," she said.
Another plus for Mailliard was Latham's investment in its emerging companies practice across different locations, she said. She expects that the ability to tap into the expertise of lawyers in Boston, Southern California and New York, as well as in more far-flung locations such as China, will benefit her clients as they face greater demand globally.
"It used to be you'd have life science and medical device companies in their own area," Mailliard said. "With the integration of technology and data, there's a lot of work on privacy and how there's the complexity of the different countries across the globe that have different contradictory laws. I'm really excited about being able to work with lawyers all over the place to solve these more complex problems."
Mailliard's hiring comes a month after Latham brought on Leslie Caldwell, the former head of the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal division, who moved from Washington, D.C., to join the firm in San Francisco. It also made a string of high-profile hires in its New York office in June, including ex-deputy White House counsel Nicholas McQuaid and ex-Kirkland & Ellis litigation partners Joseph Serino and Eric Leon.