Rimon charts global growth with new Austin and Montreal offices, cannabis hire

Jun 5, 2019; Austin, TX, USA; General overall view of the Texas state capitol building and the downtown Austin skyline. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Law firm Rimon opened new outposts in Austin, Texas, and Montreal, Canada, this week, expanding its footprint to 39 locations worldwide.

The new offices are the latest in a global growth spurt for the San Francisco-founded firm, which chief executive and founding partner Michael Moradzadeh has said combines elements of both virtual and traditional law firms.

Rimon built up a broader international presence in 2020 and the first few months of 2021, expanding into London, Paris, Sydney, Dubai, Berlin and Bogota, while also adding locations last year in the U.S., including in Houston.

In Austin, where Rimon joins a parade of firms jumping into a legal market fueled by start-up and established tech companies, employee benefits and executive compensation partner Craig Tanner is leaving Reed Smith after more than 13 years to launch the new outpost.

“We wish Craig well as he begins this new chapter in his career,” a Reed Smith representative said in a statement. Tanner will also work from Rimon’s office in Silicon Valley, the firm said in its Thursday announcement.

Rimon, which launched in 2008, posted a 53% increase in revenue in 2020 from 2019. The firm relies on cloud-based technology, as most of its lawyers have worked remotely outside of Rimon’s offices even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moradzadeh has said that the shift to remote work more broadly in the industry helped fuel the firm’s growth.

The same can be said of other nontraditional law firms that have either virtual or hybrid models, and which have seen lawyers lining up at their (virtual) doors as working remotely becomes more mainstream.

In Canada, Rimon this week hired former Gascon & Associates entertainment industry attorneys Saverio (Sam) Coppola and Jon Mechanic, who join as partner and associate, respectively. The hires coincide with Rimon announcing an affiliation with Gascon, which took effect May 1.

Gascon partner Nicolas Beaulieu in a statement accompanying Rimon’s announcement said the arrangement gives the firm “a reach with a network of top tier attorneys in markets where we currently don’t have a presence, as well as allows Rimon and its team to have strong backing in the growing Montreal marketplace.”

Beaulieu said in an interview that Gascon will still collaborate with Coppola and Mechanic and the two firms will share clients through the affiliation, which he called “mutually beneficial for both firms.”

In addition to the two new office openings, Rimon this week brought on litigator David Choi as a partner in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Choi joins from Goldberg Segalla, where he was chair of the cannabis and hemp law practice, Rimon said.

Moradzadeh in a Wednesday statement said the firm’s cannabis practice “is growing to keep up with the demand created by the burgeoning and ever evolving cannabis industry.”

Choi played a key role in growing Goldberg Segalla’s capabilities in California, according to a statement on behalf of the firm’s management committee, which said it wishes him well “as he re-focuses his practice on the cannabis industry.”

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Sara Merken