Sidley Austin is opening an office in Silicon Valley and picking up four laterals in the process. Thomas DeFilipps is joining the firm from Wilson Sonsini and will be the managing partner. Three attorneys are moving from Howard Rice. They will be joined by eight more from Sidley Austin’s San Francisco office. The firm is expecting the office to grow to 15 soon, with three more laterals expected, but the details are being kept quiet for the moment.

Sidley Austin is one of the countries oldest law firms and includes Mary Todd Lincoln among its list of early clients. Formed in 1866 in Chicago, its practice groups cover a broad range of areas and it has a long history with transactional matters and litigation.