The Legal 500 > United States > United States > Venture capital and emerging companies

With an established base in Silicon Valley, Cooley LLP stands out in the venture capital and emerging company sectors for its wide-ranging expertise in the sphere. The practice has very strong expertise in assisting a solid client base of start-up companies drawn from the life sciences and tech sectors. In a major highlight, Santa Monica-based Dave Young led the advice to media personality Kylie Jenner on selling a 51% stake of her cosmetics company (with an aggregate value of $600m) to beauty company Coty as part of a strategic partnership. San Diego-based senior counsel Fred Muto and Mark Tanoury in Palo Alto are highly regarded practitioners. In Reston, Mike Lincoln heads up the business department, while Boston-based Pat Mitchell and Matt Bartus, who relocated to the firm's Singapore office in January 2020, share leadership of the emerging companies practice.

With offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Santa Monica, Fenwick & West LLP's team has notable strength on the West Coast, where it maintains its established presence in growth company and early-stage financings matters. New York is another core base for the group. Life sciences and technology mandates form the backbone of the practice, with digital health and fintech matters also featuring prominently in the group's recent workload. Recent highlights include Michael Esquivel advising Calm.com, a developer of a mental health app, on its $88m Series B financing, bringing the company's total funding to $1bn; this allowed the client to reach unicorn status, making it the World's First Mental Health Unicorn. The highly regarded attorney Cynthia Hess co-leads the practice with Mark Leahy. Gordon Davidson has an excellent reputation for his expertise in the sphere. Other key partners include gaming sector expert Mark Stevens; San Francisco-based Samuel Angus; and Steven Levine, who advises startup tech companies on a range of matters. Michael Brown is a key name in the firm's newly established Santa Monica office. All named lawyers are based in Silicon Valley unless otherwise stated. In March 2019 Kristine Di Bacco moved to the Toronto office of Torys.

Goodwin's bicoastal practice has established capabilities in handling work from the life sciences sector, however the firm is also adept at tech and cybersecurity matters. The team acted for biopharmaceutical company AlloVir in its $120m Series B financing led by Fidelity Management and Research Company. Mitchell Bloom leads the life sciences practice; Silicon Valley's Anthony McCusker, Kenneth Gordon and John Egan co-lead the technology team. Bill Schnoor and Kingsley Taft are also noted. Named attorneys are based in Boston unless otherwise stated.

Latham & Watkins LLP's team is 'cohesive from coast to coast', and stands out for its strength in assisting clients with all aspects of the life-cycle of emerging companies. Technology and life sciences are notable areas of expertise for the group; recent highlights include advising Neurogene on its $68.5m Series A financing round, in order to develop gene therapy programs. Boston-based John Chory and Benjamin Potter in Silicon Valley co-lead the emerging companies practice. In Silicon Valley, Patrick Pohlen and life sciences expert Alan Mendelson are also key contacts. Boston-based Susan Mazur is also recommended.

International law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP has established strength in digital health, biotech and medical devices, and reports an uptick in fintech mandates. Highlights included acting for medical devices company CarePredict in its $9.5m Series A financing from Secocha Ventures, Las Olas Ventures, and Startup Health Ventures, and representing CapitalG as lead investor in the $100m Series D financing of Collibra. The practice is jointly led by Boston-based Michael Conza and Steven Cohen in Princeton. Julio Vega, who represents tech and life sciences startups and emerging growth companies, is a notable name in the Boston office.

Life sciences mandates form the backbone of Morrison & Foerster LLP's practice, with healthcare, technology and fintech matters also prominent in the team's workload. In 2019 the firm opened an office in Boston which houses Ori Solomon, who joined from Proskauer Rose LLP; Solomon represented Lux Capital in its $50m Series C financing of Cala Health. Other highlights include Steve Rowles in San Diego acting for Geneos Therapeutics in its $10m Series A financing. Solomon and Rowles share leadership of the practice with San Francisco-based Murray Indick. In Palo Alto, Timothy Harris is well known for his extensive experience in advising start-ups and investors. In October 2019 Thomas Knox moved to the Washington DC office of King & Spalding LLP.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's practice garners praise for its 'deep expertise and experience working with tech firms', particularly US-based unicorn entities, and has been kept busy handling high-value financing mandates from clients in, among other areas, the fintech, automotive technology, and data industries. The 'incredibly responsive and knowledgeable' team is jointly led by Stephen Venuto and San-Francisco based Amanda Galton. Other notable partners are Santa Monica-based Josh Pollick ('an excellent lawyer'); Peter Fusco in New York, who advises tech clients on the whole life-cycle of a company; global chairman Mitchell Zuklie, who has extensive experience in venture capital financings; Don Keller, who is highly regarded for his expertise in advising technology companies; and John Bautista, noted for advising investor clients. Unless stated otherwise, all named attorneys are based in Silicon Valley.

DLA Piper LLP (US)'s 'business savvy' team is 'prompt to respond, thoughtful in those responses, and always willing to lend a hand'. Key areas of instruction for the practice include tech, fintech and life sciences matters. Northern Virginia's Jeffrey Lehrer leads the team; other key names include of counsel Matthew VanderGoot, also in Northern Virginia; Silicon Valley's Mark Radcliffe; Randy Socol in San Diego, whose client base includes emerging growth companies and venture capital firms; and Seattle-based Trenton Dykes, who garners praise for his 'great sense of practical risk analysis and thoughtful recommendations'. In November 2019 Louis Lehot left to set up his own firm.

Hogan Lovells US LLP's 'efficient and effective' team has been advising investor clients on technology and healthcare sector matters. Recent work for the group includes acting for New Enterprise Associates as the lead investor in the $31m Series A financing of biopharmaceutical company Tiburio. San Francisco's Jon Layman and Nathaniel Gallon in Silicon Valley are the key contacts.

Jones Day's bicoastal practice has notable strength in advising financial services, life sciences, healthcare and tech sector clients on a range of financing mandates. Timothy Curry, who is based in the Bay Area, and San Diego-based Taylor Stevens assisted KKR with its investment in OneStream Software, bringing the company's final valuation to over $1bn. Additionally, Stevens led the advice to investment firm Koch Disruptive Technologies, as lead investor, on the $1bn Series D financing of Ibotta, a US-based mobile rewards platform. Practice head Michael Earley is based in the Chicago office.

Brian  Goldstein and John Pitfield jointly lead Choate, Hall & Stewart's Boston-based practice, which is highly experienced in advising on life sciences and tech matters; healthcare tech has been predominant in the team's recent workload. Brian Lenihan has expertise in advising healthcare and financial services entities on fintech matters. In March 2019 Laurence Naughton moved to Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.'s Boston office.

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP's emerging growth and venture capital team is well established on the West Coast, with attorneys operating from the Silicon Valley, San Diego and San Francisco Bay Area offices. Key areas of instruction for the team include e-commerce, fintech, AI and healthcare matters. In Silicon Valley, Jorge del Calvo led the advice to global online learning platform Coursera on its $103m Series E financing, which established the client's unicorn status. Other key partners are Allison Leopold Tilley, who is also based in the Silicon Valley office, and Christian Salaman in San Diego.

Primarily based in Silicon Valley, King & Spalding LLP's group has solid expertise in handling tech and life sciences deals. Judy O’Brien and San Francisco-based Geoff Leonard share leadership of the practice; Laura Bushnell is a key contact for representing investors and private companies in venture capital financing mandates. In October 2019 Thomas Knox joined the Washington DC office from Morrison & Foerster LLP's Northern Virginia office.