* as of 8/1/23
Just steps from Oracle Park on San Francisco Bay and surrounded by tech, social media, and biotech start-ups, our SOMA office is a key platform for representing innovators and entrepreneurs.
Opened in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood in 2012, our SOMA office focuses on early-stage companies and the angel and venture investors that finance them.
As part of our SOMA office, you’ll collaborate regularly with the attorneys in our San Francisco office—just across town—and the firm’s headquarters in our Palo Alto office. Together, these three offices are the heart of Wilson Sonsini’s reputation as a law firm for tech and life sciences and the springboard for a career representing Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and established tech giants.
In an open and collaborative workspace reflective of the area’s unique environment, the office handles the full range of legal and strategic issues vital to young businesses: financing, IP protection, governance, and M&A—among many others.
Each year, we recruit five to ten summer associates who work with our Corporate, Patents and Innovations, and Technology Transactions teams.
Explore SOMA Practices
Join Our Team
With the largest Life Sciences-focused patent practice in the world, Wilson Sonsini’s unmatched expertise services a diverse client base from start-ups to established industry leaders on global patent portfolio development and management. Associates learn from the best through early, hands-on experience and comprehensive training and development opportunities. You will draft and prosecute patent applications, prepare patent opinion letters and provide IP counseling to clients as well as supervise junior attorneys and patent agents. We want to hear from you if you have 1-4 years of patent prosecution law firm experience, patent bar membership, and a background in one of the following fields: cell or molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, medicinal chemistry, cancer biology, pharmacology, organic chemistry, biophysics, or digital health focused disciplines.
We commit to the principle that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are core components of a thriving organization. We incorporate DEI considerations into all talent management practices, including recruiting, hiring, work allocation, reviews, retention, and promotion. Externally, we collaborate with law schools and on-campus groups to build a strong pipeline of diverse recruits, and we regularly partner with community organizations that promote DEI. Through these efforts, we continue to foster a culture in which people of all backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences are encouraged and empowered to achieve their maximum potential. We realize there is more for us to do as a firm, across the legal sector, and in our communities, and we are committed to doing the work at all levels to positively effect change.
If you would like to submit an application to Wilson Sonsini, but do not see an active posting for the office or practice you are interested in, please apply here.
Did you know?
Year after year, Wilson Sonsini ranks among the most diverse law firms in the United States. For us, diversity is not just a commitment—it is integrated throughout our business, from recruiting to promotion.