Silicon Valley super lawyer Allen Ruby is taking his high-powered law practice to one of the largest law firms in the world.

Ruby has signed on with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, where he will become a partner in 2011 and continue to work out of San Jose or the firm's valley base in Palo Alto. The 65-year-old Ruby has spent much of his career on his own or with small law shops in San Jose, but decided to hook up with Skadden and all the backing a large law firm provides.

And Ruby is going from small to as large as they come. American Lawyer magazine, in its annual survey of law firm businesses, identified Skadden as one of just two law firms in the country that generated more than $2 billion in revenue last year.

Ruby's client list has been a who's who of South Bay power brokers and corporate titans in trouble, from former San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales to most recently Hewlett-Packard in its legal spat with former CEO Mark Hurd. But Ruby's career change won't impact his next big case -- the scheduled March trial of home run king Barry Bonds, who faces perjury charges for allegedly lying to a grand jury about using steroids.