More than 40 California companies launched IPOs last year and lawyers continue to see a robust pipeline.

With more than 200 deals, 2013 was a blockbuster year for domestic initial public offerings—the best on record since the turn of the millennium. And some of the biggest hits, like Twitter’s hotly anticipated shares, came out of California. Issuers headquartered in the Golden State accounted for nearly 20 percent of the total IPOs, with 44 going public.

Latham & Watkins and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati shared the distinction of bringing the most California issuers to market, advising eight apiece, according to a Recorder study of geographic IPO data supplied by Renaissance Capital. Wilson Sonsini, however, which won the coveted Twitter advisory role, handily outpaced its peers in total amount raised by clients issuing shares.

Attorneys say the strength of the equity capital markets is likely to continue into the new year. If their own pipelines are any indication, many said, the first quarter is going to be busy.

The first IPO of 2014 came Friday from Maryland-based biotech company GlycoMimetics, which soared in its debut, pricing an upsized offering after it postponed its plans in November. Many similarly situated biotechs put their IPOs on hold during the last few weeks of the fourth quarter.

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