Corporate Vision Issue 4

CORPORATE VISION / Issue 4 2018 5 NEWS , Todd Carpenter strengthens prac- tice in key market for high-growth tech- nology companies. Latham & Watkins operates as a limited liability partnership world- wide with affiliated limited liability partnerships conducting the prac- tice in France, Italy, Singapore, and the United Kingdom and as affiliated partnerships conducting the practice in Hong Kong and Japan. The firm are pleased to announce that Todd Carpenter has joined the firm as a corporate partner in the Emerging Companies Prac- tice, based in San Francisco. Car- penter focuses on high-growth, private companies and venture investors in the technology and life sciences sectors. Carpenter further deepens Latham’s emerging company capabilities in the Bay Area, par- ticularly in the software/internet space. He has advised numerous private and public companies at various stages of development in sophisticated corporate trans- actions including public offerings, venture financings, and M&A transactions. Also, he counsels clients on corporate governance work as well as day-to-day mat- ters. Kirt Switzer, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, said: “A prominent practitioner, Todd has substan- tial experience and an excellent reputation in the market. Todd’s knowledge of the technology and life sciences sectors will be of great value to our clients, and a wonderful complement to our expanding Emerging Companies Practice in the Bay Area.” “Our ability to help companies navigate every growth stage has earned us a position at the top-tier of firms in the geographical cen- tres of entrepreneurship,” added Ora Fisher, Co-Chair of Latham & Watkins. “Todd enhances our capabilities in the Bay Area so we can continue to expand our services to the visionaries who’ve made this region a hotbed for in- novation.” Carpenter concluded: “More and more, we’re seeing emerging companies focused on scaling their influence and operations globally. As such, they need le- gal advisors who understand the various challenges and opportu- nities international expansion can generate. I am thrilled to be a part of a first-class team with that type of international understanding and exceptional ability to serve emerging companies at every stage. I look forward to support- ing clients’ growth ambitions by leveraging the power of Latham’s global platform.” Carpenter joins from Wilson Son- sini Goodrich & Rosati in San Francisco where he has practiced since 2000. Carpenter received his bachelor’s degree from Den- ison University in 1995 and his J.D. degree from The George Washington University Law School in 2000. Corporate Essentials’ mission is to make work better; fuelling company culture and allowing employees to ‘work happy.’ Founded as an office coffee service in 1996, the company has long been considered the premier office refreshment service, fuelling the culture of many top companies through custom office refresh- ment programs On the 4th April, Corporate Essentials announced that they have acquired Brooklyn-based full-service caterer, Martin + Fitch. The acquisition will expand the company’s offerings which currently feature coffee servic- es, healthy snacks, beverages, and more workplace staples, to now include premium fresh food solutions. “Acquiring Martin + Fitch marks the start of the most-exciting time in our company’s 20-plus-year history,” said Judson Kleinman, Corporate Essentials President and CEO. “Being able to offer full-service catering to New York City and New Jersey offices takes what we currently do to a whole new level.” Under the Martin + Fitch brand, Corporate Essentials will offer a full range of options with the goal of appealing to every office. Whether an office is looking to supply food for an occasional workplace party, a regular Friday happy hour or daily grab-and-go lunches, the refreshment solution leader will be able to deliver. Leading Emerging Companies Partner Joins Latham& Watkins in Bay Area “We’re going to be doing some- thing with the Martin + Fitch brand that we know offices are looking for,” said Kleinman. “We speak with the people making the food decisions in offices everyday - we have a really good feel of what our clients want.” Corporate Essentials has also added Martin + Fitch co-founder Maura Martin as their executive chef. Martin has cooked for four of the last five US Presidents as well as providing catering services for the likes of Elie Tahari, Stephen Colbert, Tory Burch, The Tribeca Film Festival and more. “Joining the Corporate Essentials team gives us the opportunity to do something truly unique,” said Martin. “I think it’s easy to underestimate the importance of a quality food program when it comes to workplace culture.” With company culture a new fo- cus, providing one or more free, on-site meals on a daily basis has become normal among com- panies competing for top talent in their respective industries. Corporate Essentials is current- ly in the process of testing its catering programs with a select group of long-time customers with plans of a wider launch scheduled for some time around the 1st July 2018. “We did not make this move to simply add catering as another service we offer,” said Kleinman. “We did this to disrupt food ser- vice in the workplace.”