Our people

Rob’s practice focuses on high-growth companies, their financing and their strategic, complex and cross-border transactions. He has more than 20 years of experience working with technology, life science, energy and clean tech, online media and hosted services, and other high-growth companies in Silicon Valley and worldwide.  Over the course of his career, Rob has led teams that have advised clients on hundreds of venture capital and private equity financings, mergers, acquisitions, public offerings and strategic intellectual property transactions aggregating several billion dollars in value.  Rob serves as general counsel and trusted advisor to many of his clients.  He’s particularly skilled in business planning and has written and advised on many of his clients’ business plans, private placement memorandums and prospectuses.  Rob speaks frequently on business planning, venture capital finance and acquisition strategies.

Rob devotes many hours to pro bono representation and promotion of diversity in entrepreneurship and in the legal community. Among other activities, Rob supports Astia, the international nonprofit organization promoting women as entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth businesses; the Climate Protection Campaign, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint; and a private foundation that promotes education and support for women-led businesses in West Africa. Rob also serves as an advisor and guest lecturer at the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

Industries and Markets

Rob represents companies operating in high-growth industries and markets, including:

• Clean tech and energy solutions
• Internet, media and advertising
• Enterprise software and technology solutions
• Wireless communications and electronics
• Semiconductors, materials and alternative energy solutions
• Biotechnology, life sciences and medical devices
• Financial services and electronic commerce
• Small and medium enterprise solutions

Representative Transactions

Rob’s experience includes leading teams in representation of clients in the following types of transactions:

Structure, formation and growth of international enterprises

• Incorporation and formation of hundreds of domestic and international corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships
• Development of equity and cash incentive programs
• International corporate structuring to facilitate international sales, tax planning and expansion strategies for U.S. clients
• Establishment of U.S. entities and operations of companies headquartered in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other countries.
• International structuring, including planning and acquisition of wireless enterprises in Australia and New Zealand, integration of operations of media company in UK, Canada and the United States, structuring of Internet media business operating in Latin America, and structuring a venture fund operating in West Africa

Venture capital and private equity financing

• Hundreds of venture capital and private equity financings of high-growth companies
• Representation of venture capital and private equity firms in connection with fund formation and portfolio investment

Mergers and acquisitions supporting investment, growth and exit strategies

• More than a hundred mergers and acquisitions transactions aggregating several billion dollars in value
• Sale of networking technology and services company to international market leader
• Sale of encryption technology company to international network security enterprise
• Sale of private Internet communications and media company operating globally to major international communications equipment and services provider
• Sale of public fabless semiconductor company to global semiconductor manufacturer
• Sale of wireless communications company to international electronics company
• Development of auction process and sale transaction for sale of dairy & food services company

Restructuring and special purpose acquisitions

• International venture financing involving the restructuring and combination of several international communications companies as pre-requisite to funding
• Acquisition of patents and related expertise to support collaboration between public life science company and multinational chemical company
• Development of affiliation strategy and acquisitions of affiliates to support growth objectives of online media company

Public offerings and PIPES transactions

• Public offerings and PIPES transactions for Internet, media, technology, semiconductor and life sciences companies

Complex technology and cross-border transactions

• Dual-path public offering and private auction leading to sale of online media company to multinational media conglomerate
• "Merger of equals" transaction involving restructuring of constituent venture-backed online services companies, financing and rights offering of employee incentives
• Formation  of alternative energy services company and development of strategies for financing, for offering energy, construction and related services and for participating in global energy markets
• Development of bidding process and purchase transaction for technology required by large energy services company

Complex transactions involving restructuring, regulatory, litigation or other complicating factors

• Advising companies defending patent litigation in connection with venture-capital fundraising
• Corporate and securities advice for life sciences company in bankruptcy
• Advising an entertainment company through insolvency, including advice as to financing, exit, restructuring and bankruptcy alternatives
• Implementation of management incentive plans and cash incentives to motivate managers and employees whose equity incentives have no current value

Experience

Legal Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• California

Professional Affiliations

• Advisor, Lester Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, University of California, Berkeley
• Advisor, Astia (formerly the Women's Technology Cluster), San Francisco
• American Bar Association

Interests

Rob has lived in Alaska, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Utah, Germany and Spain, and now lives with his wife and their three children in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to practicing law, Rob enjoys nearby Napa and Sonoma food, bicycling, travel, languages, history, geography, skiing, fishing, science fiction, comedy and independent film.