Cleary Gottlieb Adds Two San Francisco Bay Area Partners, Opens SF Office

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP announced today the expansion of its San Francisco Bay Area presence with the addition of tax partner Maureen Linch and intellectual property, technology transactions and privacy partner Marcela Robledo, as well as the official opening of its San Francisco office.

After entering the Bay Area with a senior team of antitrust, litigation and M&A partners in November, this new growth in key transactional areas quickly establishes California as a cornerstone for the firm’s U.S. and global offering.

Maureen Linch

Maureen, who spent the early years of her career as a Cleary tax associate, is returning from the San Francisco office of a major international law firm where she was a partner. Her practice includes the tax aspects of M&A and other transactional matters, as well as structuring and planning, for companies ranging from start-ups to large multinationals at all stages of their life cycle. She also has expertise in the tax aspects of renewable energy investments and bankruptcies and restructurings.

“Our global tax practice provides clear, practical advice to our clients on the tax implications of their most sophisticated transactions and novel issues. Maureen’s breadth of experience will help us continue to grow and strengthen our offering to clients across industries,” tax partner Meyer Fedida said.

“My time as an associate at Cleary was an important building block for my career,” Maureen said. “I’m excited to rejoin my colleagues and friends at the firm, build on that history and to be part of the fantastic California team and the firm’s renowned global tax and corporate practices.”

Marcela Robledo

Marcela will be joining Cleary in mid-June from a major global law firm where, as a partner in San Francisco, she handled intellectual property, technology and privacy issues for a wide range of corporate and transactional matters, spanning mergers and acquisitions, licensing, collaboration agreements and joint ventures. Her practice focuses on technology transactions and advising public and private clients across industries on the IP, privacy and cybersecurity aspects of corporate matters. Marcela’s experience includes advising leading technology companies and video game developers on licensing agreements, strategic partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.

She is a member of the American and California Bar Associations, as well as the International Trademark Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

“Marcela’s extensive resume of work on high-profile technology transactions, as well as her experience advising on cybersecurity and data privacy issues, will make her an invaluable asset to our team and our clients,” said Cleary partner Daniel Ilan, who leads the firm’s IP practice. “We’re delighted to welcome her to the firm.”

“I was drawn to the firm’s commitment to growth in California and its outstanding global platform,” Marcela said. “Cleary’s reputation for tackling the most complex, cross-border transactional work is unparalleled in the industry and I’m looking forward to being part of this distinguished group.”

Cleary’s Ambitions for the Bay Area

“We’re thrilled to welcome Maureen back to the firm and to have Marcela join us at an exciting time for Cleary in California,” Managing Partner Michael Gerstenzang said. “Each brings deep expertise and experience, and together they add to our outstanding Bay Area team and our renowned global corporate practice. Last fall, we began assembling an exceptional group with the relocation to the Bay Area of Brian Byrne, George Cary, Jennifer Kennedy Park, Benet O’Reilly and six associates, and the arrival of Heather Nyong’o. Bringing Maureen and Marcela to Cleary furthers our goal of rapidly building on that strong foundation with additional local market-leading talent.”

“Having stellar tax and IP capabilities is critical to our clients’ complex needs,” M&A partner Benet O’Reilly said. “Maureen and Marcela add to our distinguished global teams in these vital practices, and will help us immensely with their talents and on-the-ground knowledge of the California market.”

Cleary opened in California in November 2021. The firm’s Bay Area presence includes a Palo Alto location at 1841 Page Mill Road and the newly opened San Francisco location at 650 California Street.