Practice/Organization Description
Clients worldwide call on our teams for forward-looking commercial advice on transactions, litigation and compliance matters. We bring distinctive quality, teamwork and value to the table – and innovate in everything we do.
Sector Focus
We are well-known as a leading advisor to the global Technology sector. Our clients include 4,500+ venture-backed companies, 13 of the 25 largest public tech companies, and the most active PE/VC funds and underwriters in the tech ecosystem. We offer comprehensive solutions for every stage in a tech company’s growth – including private and public company transactions, IP protection, high-stakes litigation, and cybersecurity and other compliance.
Our Energy & Infrastructure practice covers the full energy spectrum: renewables, conventional energy, and oil and gas. We act for the largest global sponsors and developers, new market entrants, banks, funds, and government entities. We have pioneered the global infrastructure markets, with particular strength in the Transport sector.
15 of the Global 20 banks rely on our Finance teams, as do funds, development banks and other lenders. Dating back to our work on the financing of California’s Golden Gate Bridge, we have dominated the U.S. public finance markets. We bring technical excellence and craftsmanship to the securitization, acquisition finance, restructuring and real estate markets.
We help Life Sciences & HealthTech disruptors protect their innovations, scale and invest. Our clients include 12 of the 20 largest biopharma companies by market cap in the U.S. and 350+ venture-backed companies and leading investors in the sector. We provide holistic advice on venture and strategic financings, IP and regulatory considerations, and bring the technical knowledge to understand our clients’ inventions and how to explain them to juries and judges.
Trial and Appellate Firepower
In courts in all 50 states and around the world – across many different subject matters – and against the toughest opponents, our trial teams have scored victories when it mattered most. We are equally focused on helping clients avoid the courtroom in the first place. Our stable of former senior DOJ officials, including two U.S. Attorneys and a State Attorney General, helps our clients navigate enforcement issues and put proactive compliance programs in place.
Value – Without Compromising Quality
Opportunities to innovate inspire us, and we were named by Financial Times among the Top 3 Most Innovative firms for eight years in a row. We partner with our clients to deliver innovative solutions for a wide range of legal functions: document review and due diligence, litigation management, corporate secretary compliance, global employment and executive compensation compliance, and startup ventures. And clients recognize us among the top firms in the use of creative pricing to better align client and firm interests, avoid surprises and deliver cost savings.
Inspiring Exceptional Talent
To deliver exceptional legal counsel, we must attract, retain, educate and inspire exceptional lawyers – including diverse talent. We staff engagements with small, diverse teams, and offer our associates opportunities to make a meaningful impact early in their careers. To bring the best thinking to our firm management, we’ve created one of the most inclusive leadership teams of any firm: 55% of our Board and Management Committee members are diverse. To ensure that parents do not need to choose between career and family, we implemented the most generous parental leave and flexible work policies in our profession. And to bring talent with diverse experiences into our professions, we created a U.S. Veterans’ Legal Career Fair, and started the Bay Area’s first Diversity Career Fair.
A Long-Term Perspective
We are fortunate to have inherited the core values of excellence, teamwork, perseverance and innovation – going back 150+ years to our firm’s roots in California’s Gold Rush era. This history informs the long-term perspective we bring to our client advice. We’re equally grateful to work with the most innovative companies worldwide, paving the way for a more globally integrated, technologically sophisticated future.
