OUR CO-FOUNDERS
Andrea Chavez is an Executive Partner and a co-founder of VLP. Andrea has spent her entire professional career negotiating and closing large technology transactions in the semiconductor, networking, software and digital media areas. For over ten years, she has represented both early stage and established companies in licensing, joint ventures, technology transfers, outsourcing, intellectual property acquisitions and other commercial and strategic pursuits in the United States and abroad.
After completing an AB cum laude in Philosophy at Harvard and a JD and MS in Computer Science at Stanford, Andrea started her legal career at Venture Law Group. She subsequently co-founded and ran all sales, business development and legal initiatives at Mediabolic, the leading provider of embedded software for next generation consumer electronic products. At Mediabolic, Andrea sourced and closed deals with semiconductor, manufacturing, codec, content and consumer electronics partners in the United States, Europe, Japan, China and Taiwan, resulting in the deployment of Mediabolic software in millions of consumer electronics products across the globe, including DVD players, media adapters, computers, personal video recorders, and AV systems. After the sale of Mediabolic to Macrovision, Andrea co-founded Lion Tech Law, a boutique law firm based in San Francisco, prior to co-founding VLP. Andrea is a member of the State Bar of California.
Andrea can be reached at AChavez@VirtualLawPartners.com.
Craig Johnson is CEO and a co-founder of VLP. Prior to co-founding VLP, Craig was a Managing Director of Concept2Company Ventures, a seed venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, California. Prior to C2C Craig was the Chairman and a co-founder of Venture Law Group, a law firm specializing in representing high technology companies which merged with Heller Ehrman LLP in 2003. Among the companies Venture Law Group helped to start were Yahoo!, Cerent (sold to Cisco for $7 Billion), Lightera (sold to Ciena for $600 Million), Foundry Networks, Hotmail and WebTV (both sold to Microsoft) and Rosetta Inpharmatics (sold to Merck in 2001 for $540 Million).
Craig graduated from Yale in 1968 (magna cum laude), spent two years teaching in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, worked with Burroughs in Pasadena as a systems computer programmer and left to start law school at Stanford, from which he graduated in 1974. After law school he joined the Palo Alto law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati as its 14th attorney. In 1993 he left WSG&R with 13 other attorneys to start Venture Law Group. Craig has been recognized by Business Week as one of Silicon Valley's top 25 "movers and shakers," by Red Herring Magazine as one of nine Silicon Valley "top power brokers," by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential attorneys in America and by Forbes Magazine as one of the country's top private company investors ("Midas List"). Craig is also a co-founder of Financial Engines and Garage Technology Ventures. Craig is a member of the State Bar of California.
Craig can be reached at CJohnson@VirtualLawPartners.com.
RoseAnn Rotandaro is President and co-founder of VLP. She has represented technology companies in Silicon Valley since 1996. RoseAnn joined efforts with Craig and Andrea in a shared vision to create VLP, the world’s first top-tier virtual law firm, after founding and managing a boutique virtual firm in Palo Alto, Armor Legal Counsel, P.C. Prior to Armor Legal, RoseAnn spent several years as General Counsel for a financial software company, BenefitStreet, Inc., and a video streaming technology company, Equator Technologies, Inc. RoseAnn launched her Silicon Valley practice at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati where she practiced for six years. Her experience includes corporate finance, corporate governance, SEC compliance, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and strategic transactions.
RoseAnn graduated from Stanford Law School in 1995. At Stanford, RoseAnn was an editor on Stanford Law Review and participated in three moot courts, including the Jessup International Moot Court. She also received the Hilmer Oehlman, Jr. Award for Excellence in Legal Writing and Research. RoseAnn is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Alaska.
In her life before lawyering, RoseAnn worked as a teacher in diverse places around the world such as the University of Science and Technology of China, the PRC’s national research university, and a public school in a Yupik Eskimo village on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, near the Bering Sea in Alaska. RoseAnn also served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, West Africa before Sierra Leone’s civil war. She maintains a strong interest in serving communities and developing friendships worldwide. VLP supports and facilitates these values.
RoseAnn can be reached at RRotandaro@VirtualLawPartners.com.
OUR PARTNERS
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Zachary Bogue is a Partner of VLP and is a corporate and securities attorney living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Zack previously worked as a corporate and securities lawyer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he represented a wide range of technology and growth businesses at all stages of development and the institutions that finance them, with a particular emphasis on securities issues and transactional matters. Specifically, he represented private and public companies in a broad range of capacities including corporate formation, day-to-day corporate
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governance matters, venture equity and debt financings, initial public offerings, mergers & acquisitions, international transactions and SEC periodic reporting. Zack has substantial experience in representing semiconductor, biotechnology and software businesses, as well as venture capital firms. Following WSGR, Zack helped found and serves as the managing director and general counsel of Montara Capital Partners, a real estate private equity fund.
Zack graduated with honors from Harvard University in Environmental Science & Public Policy with an Emphasis in Business & Economics and earned his JD with honors from Georgetown Law School, where he was executive editor for The Tax Lawyer.
Zack serves on the Advisory Board of the East Palo Alto Charter School, where he founded and runs the “Harvard Club” High School Application Workshop, and he advises on 501(c)(3) and other non-profit legal issues for the East Palo Alto Charter School Foundation. He is a member of the State Bar of California.
Zack can be reached at ZBogue@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Dan Burke is a Founding Partner of VLP and a corporate and commercial lawyer based in Silicon Valley. Dan has over 14 years of experience representing public and private technology companies and their investors on a variety of matters, including financings, acquisitions, commercial transactions, employment and equity compensation matters, and general corporate and securities matters.
Prior to joining VLP, Dan was Vice President,
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General Counsel and Secretary of IPWireless, an international wireless technology company, where he managed all legal matters facing the company and, as a member of the senior management team, was a strategic advisor to the management team and the Board.
As General Counsel, Dan was in charge of drafting and negotiating all of the company’s major transactions, including numerous license, distribution, supply and trial agreements with telecomm OEMs and wireless operators worldwide, including Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, Softbank, Alcatel, Nortel, Motorola, UTStarcom and Samsung. He also spearheaded the negotiation and completion of several complex financing and acquisition transactions for the company, including the company’s $235 million acquisition by Nextwave Wireless in May 2007. Dan was also a key advisor to the Board and management in the company’s efforts to fend off third parties claiming to own patents that were allegedly infringed by IPWireless products and technologies. Dan was also in charge of day-to-day legal matters, including employment matters, patent prosecution management, maintenance of equity and incentive compensation plans, maintenance of minute books, updating legal forms, and drafting and negotiating a wide variety of day-to-day agreements, such as in-bound licenses and supply agreements, manufacturing agreements, development and partnership agreements and non-disclosure agreements.
Prior to joining IPWireless in 2003, Dan spent nine years in private practice, first at the international law firm of Latham & Watkins, and then at Venture Law Group, one of the premier Silicon Valley law firms representing emerging growth companies and their investors. In private practice, Dan represented dozens of public and private companies, investment banks and venture funds in over sixty financing transactions, including seven IPOs, and over thirty acquisition transactions. Dan also provided representation on general corporate, securities, commercial and employment matters, including company formation, stock administration, equity compensation, legal representation at board meetings, and licensing and partnering transactions.
Prior to private practice, Dan spent a year clerking for a federal judge in Los Angeles.
Dan graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA in 1990 with a degree in Economics-Business, and from Stanford Law School in 1993, where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review. Dan is a member of the State Bar of California.
Dan can be reached at DBurke@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Virginia (Ginny) Coles is a Partner of VLP with more than 20 years of experience providing legal advice to technology companies in Silicon Valley, both as in-house counsel and through private practice at local law firms. Her areas of expertise are securities regulation, corporate governance and compliance, corporate finance, equity compensation and other employment matters and general corporate matters. Prior to joining VLP, Ginny was a sole practitioner representing companies such as Apple, McAfee and Shutterfly. Her 13 years of in-house experience included
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heading up the corporate and securities law teams at Intuit Inc., which was recently named America's most admired software company, and Good Technology, a late-stage venture-backed company that was acquired by Motorola. Her law firm experience included five years with Fenwick & West. Ginny brings to her practice the unique insights developed through her hands-on familiarity with public company and private company perspectives, as well in-house legal and law firm perspectives. These insights are particularly valuable to private companies considering an IPO or other liquidity event.
Ginny graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with an B.A. In Psychology and from Stanford Law School. She is a member of the State Bar of California. She has served on the Board of the Bay Area Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and is a frequent speaker to legal groups on various topics.
Ginny can be reached at VColes@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Dawn Farber is a Founding Partner of VLP. Dawn's practice focuses on representing technology companies in intellectual property licensing and commercial transactions. She has extensive experience counseling clients in a variety of industries, including semiconductor, networking, telecommunications, software and the Internet. Prior to joining VLP, Dawn worked in her own private practice starting in 2005. At the same time, she was also the VP of Operations & Legal
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Affairs for Xigmix, an EDA software startup founded by researchers from Carnegie Mellon, prior to its acquisition by Extreme DA.
Dawn began her legal career as an attorney at Venture Law Group and then joined Heller Ehrman through its acquisition of Venture Law Group. She has represented over 100 technology companies in a wide range of technology transactions. Representative clients include Airespace (acquired by Cisco), Alliance Semiconductor, Impinj, Iridigm Display Corporation (acquired by Qualcomm), Miramar Systems (acquired by Computer Associates), Topspin Communications (acquired by Cisco), Trigo Technologies (acquired by IBM), webwasher (acquired by CyberGuard) and Yahoo!. Before pursuing law, Dawn worked as a network system engineer at Hewlett-Packard Company.
Dawn received her J.D. from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from MIT. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Dawn is a member of the State Bar of California and the Pennsylvania State Bar. She is also registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Dawn can be reached at DFarber@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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W.H. Baird Garrett is a VLP Partner based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Baird has over 12 years of experience in providing legal counsel to venture-backed and publicly traded technology companies on a wide range of domestic and international transactions in the software (including open source), telecommunications, Internet, new media and interactive advertising industries. Baird has extensive experience providing counsel to clients in the development, acquisition, commercialization, protection, licensing and disposition of intellectual property
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assets. Baird has represented clients in the negotiation of commercial transactions involving the manufacturing, distribution, outsourcing, supply, licensing and sale of technology products and services, and advised clients on intellectual property and technology matters in connection with joint ventures, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions. Among the clients Baird has represented are Apptera, Inc., Borland Software, Corp., Definiens, Inc., Intelligence Gaming, Inc., Juniper Networks, Inc., Neohapsis, Inc., Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc., Redback Networks, Inc., SpringSource, Inc., Vusion, Inc. and Walt Disney Corporation. Baird has represented clients in transactions with AOL, AMD, AT&T, Bank of America, eBay, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Hewlet Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, UBS, Verizon and many other Fortune 500 and smaller companies.
Baird began his career at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati in Palo Alto, CA and Seattle, WA, in the firm’s Technology Transactions group, before establishing his own successful practice. Baird also served as Vice President and General Counsel of GreatLodge.com, Inc., and as Legal Counsel Technology for Baan Company, NV. Prior to joining Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, Baird clerked for the Honorable Jack B. Jacobs on the Delaware Court of Chancery. Baird holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an Editor and member of the Articles Review Board of the Virginia Law Review, and recipient of a Ford Foundation Fellowship. Baird also holds an M.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University. Baird is a member of the State Bar of California. Baird is Chairman of the Jackson Hole Wine Auction, one of the largest charity wine auctions in the United States, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Grand Teton Music Festival, which has provided vital music to the Jackson Hole community, and funded music education in local schools, for nearly fifty years. Baird is also an avid alpine and backcountry skier, cyclist and backpacker.
Baird can be reached at BGarrett@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Emily Gavin is a Founding Partner of VLP. Emily's practice focuses primarily on technology and intellectual property transactions. She has worked with numerous early stage and public company clients in the software, interactive media, semiconductor, and telecommunications industries. Emily has extensive experience in over one hundred transactions involving content development, distribution, manufacturing, outsourcing, and other commercial contracts, and advising companies on intellectual property and technology-related matters in connection with
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equity and debt financings and mergers and acquisitions. Her work in interactive media has included advising leading console manufacturers and video game publishers as well as early stage independent gaming companies.
Emily began her legal career in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, representing technology companies in corporate and licensing transactions, and she later practiced law in the Technology Transactions group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She received her J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2003 and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in 2000. Emily is a member of the State Bar of California.
Emily can be reached at EGavin@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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David Goldenberg is a Founding Partner of VLP. Prior to VLP, David was a co-founder and partner of Lion Tech Law, a boutique law firm based in San Francisco, California. Prior to Lion Tech Law, David served as general counsel for Mediabolic, Inc., the leading embedded entertainment software company in Silicon Valley, for nearly three years. He oversaw all legal aspects for the company, including sales and business development transactions (including negotiation of over 75 separate licensing transactions with companies such as Intel, Motorola, Sony,
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Cisco/Linksys, Fujitsu, Phillips, HP, Broadcom and Marvell), financing issues (including two rounds of venture capital financing), stock option matters, employee matters, and the eventual sale of the company to Macrovision, Inc.
Prior to Mediabolic, David practiced law at the San Francisco headquarters of Morrison & Foerster, one of the country’s premier law firms, for nearly seven years. At MoFo, he completed a variety of transactions, including venture capital financings, IPOs, SEC compliance, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, executive compensation and other general corporate matters. He completed at least thirty venture capital financings of all types during his tenure (preferred stock, common stock, convertible debt, secured loan, up-round, down-round, bridge, warrants, and other types of financing), and multiple mergers at all size levels, from $6M to $1.9B, as well as licensing, strategic partner, and IPO transactions. He also advised publicly traded companies in mergers and acquisitions, financing, corporate governance, stock option, executive compensation, and stock exchange listing (and delisting) matters.
David graduated from Stanford Law School in 1996, where he was Chair (Managing Editor) of the Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance. Prior to that, he received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University with honors (where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa). David is a member of the State Bar of California.
David can be reached at DGoldenberg@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Rola Innis is a Founding Partner of VLP. Rola focuses her practice on technology and commercial transactions and general business matters. She has extensive experience negotiating licensing agreements, professional services agreements, IT agreements, outsourcing agreements and other commercial contracts. Rola also serves as outside general counsel to internet and technology companies, advising them on any number of issues that arise in the day-to-day operation of their business, such as entity formation, intellectual property protection, terms of service, open source, issues with users,
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customers or vendors, and general commercial contracts.
Upon completing her JD, magna cum laude, from U.C. Hastings College of the Law, Rola clerked for the Honorable Herbert Y.C. Choy of the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and later joined Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco, where she represented emerging companies. After practicing in-house with Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. as Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel of its technology and contracts group, Rola co-founded Silicon Counsel LLP and Lion Tech Law LLP before joining VLP. She is a member of the State Bar of California.
Rola can be reached at RInnis@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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David Jargiello is a Partner of VLP and a corporate and securities lawyer based in Silicon Valley. He also serves as VLP’s General Counsel. David began practicing law in 1989 at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Craig Johnson’s emerging companies practice group, specializing in corporate finance and securities. In 1993, he was one of the original 14 lawyers who founded Venture Law Group. As a shareholder and director of VLG, he continued to
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represent public and private technology companies and their investors on a variety of matters, including financings, acquisitions, corporate restructurings, and commercial transactions. In 1996 he became VLG’s General Counsel and served as part of the management team responsible for the oversight and management of the firm’s business and professional matters. In that capacity, he also developed significant experience in matters of professional responsibility and the laws governing lawyers. When VLG merged with Heller Ehrman in 2003, David became a shareholder in the combined firm’s Corporate/VLG Practice Group. He was a member of Heller Ehrman’s management committee as well as its General Counsel until joining VLP in 2008. Outside of private practice, from 2004 to 2007 David served on the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct of The State Bar of California (COPRAC). He is also a member of the Opinions Committee of the Business Law Section of The State Bar of California, and the Chairman of its Subcommittee on Third Party Legal Opinions in Venture Capital Financings.
David received his undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1982, and a Masters Degree from Stanford University in 1985 where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow. He received his law degree in 1989 from the University of California, Berkeley. David is a member of The State Bar of California.
David can be reached at DJargiello@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Christopher La Chance is a Founding Partner of VLP and a corporate and securities attorney based in San Francisco. He represents private and public companies and venture capital firms and other investors in a wide range of corporate and transactional matters, including entity formation, corporate governance, equity compensation, private equity and debt financings, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, public offerings, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and SEC reporting and disclosure.
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Prior to joining VLP, Chris spent nearly two years as a Senior Attorney and Assistant General Counsel at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in San Francisco where he counseled the firm and its partners on a broad array of legal compliance and sensitive risk management issues. Chris also practiced for five years in the Corporate and Securities department at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. in Palo Alto where he represented technology companies at all stages of development as well as the venture capital firms and investment banks that financed them. Chris was also formerly a member of the Supreme Court & Appellate Practice Group at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago.
Chris graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago with an A.B. in Philosophy. He attended Columbia Law School where he was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and served as Principal Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review. Chris served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert R. Beezer in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and to the Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is a member of the State Bars of California and Illinois.
Chris can be reached at CLaChance@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Judy Lee is a Founding Partner of VLP. Judy has a background in corporate finance, corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining VLP, Judy was an attorney working on mergers and acquisitions for clients of Axiom Legal Solutions' San Francisco office. Prior to Axiom, Judy lived in New York City for over eight years. In New York, Judy served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where she drafted and negotiated numerous commercial agreements and advised and supported the sales, customer service and
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compliance groups of two different departments on commercial, legal and regulatory issues. Prior to Goldman Sachs, she spent five years as a corporate associate at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP. At Sullivan & Cromwell, Judy represented companies on various corporate and transactional matters including public and private offerings of debt and equity, mergers & acquisitions, entity formation, corporate governance, SEC compliance and other general corporate matters.
Judy received her law degree from Columbia University School of Law and was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Judy graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with highest distinction in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley. Judy is a member of the state bars of California and New York.
Judy can be reached at JLee@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Ellen Leznik is a Founding Partner of VLP. Ellen has over twelve years of experience in counseling clients in the Life Sciences industry in a wide range of technology-based commercial transactions. She advises both private and public companies on issues related to domestic and international transactions, including research, licensing, manufacturing, collaborations, distribution and clinical trials matters. Ellen’s particular expertise is in the clinical trials area. She counsels her clients on a variety of clinical trials matters for trials conducted both in the U.S.
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and internationally. Ellen is fluent in Russian and has used her language skills in drafting and negotiating agreements for Russian and Ukrainian clinical trials.
Prior to joining VLP, Ellen spent eight years in private practice providing legal services to life sciences and other technology companies, with special emphasis on clinical trials and international licensing transactions and collaborations. Prior to starting her private practice, Ellen served as In-House Counsel and Assistant Secretary at SUGEN, Inc., a public biotech company with its core technology in the oncology area. While at SUGEN, Ellen was responsible for all of the company's legal matters (other than patents), including clinical trials matters, securities, licensing and corporate partnering transactions, employment issues and coordination of real estate and litigation matters. She served on the company’s Executive Committee and, as SUGEN's Assistant Secretary, participated in the company’s Board of Directors and Annual Shareholders meetings. Prior to joining SUGEN in 1997, Ellen served as an associate with Cooley Godward LLP in the firm's Life Sciences practice group.
Ellen served as a board member of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, where she also chaired the Life Sciences and Membership Committees.
Ellen graduated from Stanford Law School in 1995, where she was an Associate Managing Editor of the Stanford Journal of International Law. She received her B.B.A. in Management Information Systems (magna cum laude) and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Houston. Ellen is a member of the State Bar of California.
Ellen can be reached at ELeznik@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Ughetta Manzone is a Founding Partner of VLP and a corporate and securities attorney specializing in counseling entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs in residence and private companies. She provides legal and strategic advice in the areas of entity formation, contract drafting and negotiation, stock option, employment and executive compensation matters, debt, venture capital and private equity financings, securities matters, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
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Prior to joining VLP, Ughetta founded a private legal practice focusing on early stage private companies. Before that, she worked as an attorney at both Venture Law Group and then Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, where she represented technology companies in every stage of development, from groups of founders needing incorporation advice to such public companies as Yahoo, Inc. She incorporated dozens of private companies and LLCs and advised on such corporate deals as equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. On a routine basis, she also advised her clients on stock option, SEC compliance and employment matters, drafted and negotiated contracts, attended board meetings and advised the boards of directors on legal and strategic matters.
Ughetta earned her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). She is a member of the State Bar of California.
Ughetta can be reached at UManzone@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Gerry Murfitt is a Partner at VLP. Gerry’s primary focus and passion is advising entrepreneurs with respect to all aspects of structuring, growing and selling their start-up companies. During the course of his career he has assisted such entrepreneurs raise hundreds of millions of dollars of venture-capital financing from a variety of top-tier investors. In addition, he has also advised private individuals, venture capitalists and boards of directors on hundreds of other transactions and has extensive experience in all areas of
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corporate law, including corporate governance, securities law, intellectual property, licensing, employment matters, equity compensation, equity and debt financings, IPOs, and M&A transactions.
Gerry started his career at the height of the Internet boom with the preeminent Silicon Valley law firm, Venture Law Group, and continued his career at Heller Ehrman LLP after its acquisition of Venture Law Group in 2003. He later moved to the Silicon Valley office of global law firm, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, along with several other Venture Law Group attorneys in order to form Orrick's new “Emerging Companies Group.” Later Gerry founded his own firm, Startup Law Group, in order to more effectively address the unique needs faced by start-up entrepreneurs.
Gerry received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees from the University of California, Davis where received a merit-based scholarship from the university's Graduate School of Management. During his studies he received significant academic recognition including awards for being the top student in several classes important to start-up companies including contracts, corporations, finance and business strategy. As an undergraduate, he graduated summa cum laude at the University of Auckland, where he received a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) degree with majors in Economics and International Business. Gerry is currently a member of the State Bar of California. He is a dual U.S. and New Zealand citizen, speaks Spanish, and in his spare time he has a variety of interests including traveling (more than sixty countries to date), cycling, skiing, scuba-diving (advanced PADI certification) and wine-collecting.
Gerry can be reached at GMurfitt@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Jay Parkhill is a Partner at VLP. He has spent his legal career working with startup and growth stage companies in and around San Francisco. Many of his clients are technology-based, although he has also worked with restaurants and food product companies, investment advisers, service businesses and many other types of companies. Jay works with venture-funded companies as well as companies that do not fit the venture mold and understands well the differences in approach that each path entails. His expertise falls into two general areas: licensing,
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development and other technology transactions intended to drive revenue to growth-stage and mature businesses; and entity formation, founder equity issues, venture capital financings, employment counseling, M&A and corporate governance matters for startups and growth companies.
Jay graduated from Hastings College of the Law in 1998, where he served as Internet Editor of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. Prior to joining VLP he worked in boutique transactional firms Niesar & Diamond and Montgomery Law Group before forming his own law firm, Parkhill Venture Counsel. He is a member of the State Bar of California.
Jay can be reached at JParkhill@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Wena Poon is a Partner of VLP and a corporate and securities attorney. For nearly ten years Wena has built a broad, interdisciplinary transactional practice connecting investors and companies around the world. She is equally comfortable working with a small startup in Silicon Valley, or with the country’s leading public companies and investment banks. Her industry experience includes advising clients from diverse sectors such as software development, videogaming, wireless, cleantech, commercial real estate, retail and manufacturing, technology, energy, media and
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telecommunications. She has advised both private and public companies on cross border M&A, joint ventures, strategic alliances, technology licensing and distribution, private equity, venture capital, finance transactions, 144A/Reg S global equity and debt offerings and European and Asian listings.
A native of Singapore, Wena has worked in the offices of some of the world’s largest firms, in New York, California, Paris and Hong Kong. Her experience allows her to bridge legal cultures in US, Asia and Europe and explain legal solutions clearly and effectively to international clients.
Wena graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 1995 and received a JD from Harvard Law School in 1998, where she was Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Harvard International Law Review. She has worked as a US lawyer for Linklaters, a “Magic Circle” London firm, and Reed Smith LLP. She is admitted in both New York and California State Bars.
While practicing law full time, Wena is also an established author with a significant body of published and reviewed fiction and non-fiction work. Her latest book, Lions In Winter, was longlisted for the 2008 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award in Ireland, and shortlisted for the 2008 Singapore Literature Prize.
Wena can be reached at WPoon@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Erik Riegler is a Founding Partner of VLP. Erik provides general outside counsel services to businesses ranging in size from startups to public companies. He has extensive experience with company formations, board matters, licensing and commercial transactions, debt and equity financings, stock option and executive compensation matters, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships, intellectual property and internet website issues, corporate governance, pre-litigation contract disputes and many other legal and business issues facing rapidly growing companies.
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Prior to joining VLP, Erik served as Secretary, Vice President and General Counsel for LookSmart, a publicly traded search engine company in San Francisco, and previously as Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, for five and a half years. As General Counsel, he oversaw all legal affairs of the company, including licensing, sales and business development transactions, SEC reporting, six acquisitions of companies and/or technology assets, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, stock option matters, employee matters, trademark issues, several different types of litigation and all other legal matters.
From 1996 to 2000, Erik practiced corporate, securities and transactional law at the Palo Alto headquarters of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, one of the country's premier law firms. At WSGR, he gained experience in a variety of matters, including venture capital financings, IPO's, SEC compliance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate formation and organization, executive compensation, company formation, board matters and other general corporate matters.
Erik graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1995, where he received Order of the Coif honors and was an Associate Editor of the Ecology Law Quarterly and Member of the Moot Court Board. After law school, he was a law clerk in the U. S. District Court in Orange County, California with Judge Alicemarie Stotler. Erik received a B. A. degree from U. C. Berkeley with High Honors and an M.S. degree from the London School of Economics with High Distinction. Erik is a member of the State Bar of California.
Erik can be reached at ERiegler@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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John Rigsbee is a Partner at VLP. John's practice focuses on representing life sciences and technology companies in commercial transactions, intellectual property counseling, licensing, and general business and corporate matters. He has over 12 years experience counseling clients in a variety of industries, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductor, networking, telecommunications, software and the Internet.
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Prior to joining VLP, John was General Counsel for Entelos, Inc., a world leader in building computer models of diseases and conducting predictive biosimulation for the life sciences industry. At Entelos, John was responsible for all the Company’s legal affairs, including general corporate matters, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property matters. John negotiated and closed deals with many of the world's premier pharmaceutical companies, including companies such as Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever. John also managed a patent portfolio consisting of 35 issued patents and over 120 pending applications worldwide. Before joining Entelos, John was corporate counsel at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he was responsible for providing legal advice to support R&D, licensing and acquisitions, sales and marketing, medical affairs, and clinical affairs. Prior to Jazz Pharmaceuticals, John served as corporate counsel at Tularik Inc. until its acquisition by Amgen, Inc., performing a similar range of functions.
John began his legal career as an attorney with Townsend and Townsend and Crew, where he focused on commercial and patent litigation. John subsequently joined Venture Law Group, where he advised life science and technology companies on commercial transactions, intellectual property matters, licensing, and other general business and corporate matters. John earned a J.D. from University of Southern California Law Center, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Carleton College. John is a member of the State Bar of California and registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
John can be reached at JRigsbee@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Susan Tien is a Founding Partner of VLP. Her practice is focused on intellectual property and commercial transactions. Prior to VLP, Susan was with Armor Legal Counsel, P.C., a boutique law firm based in Palo Alto, California.
Susan graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1993 and from University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1996. She began her career at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She then was corporate counsel for Exodus Communications and eBay;
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there, she practiced e-commerce law and drafted and negotiated technology, services, sales, and marketing agreements with such companies as Disney, Google and Microsoft. Susan has also worked at Silicon Graphics, Inc., as its lead licensing lawyer and was responsible for both in-bound and out-bound technology agreements. She oversaw the successful launch of SGI's Linux-based server product line, which grossed over $100 million its first year. While at SGI, she also completed significant agreements with IBM, Novell, and Red Hat.
Susan is a member of the California Bar. She sits on the Board of the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley and on the Santa Clara County Bar Association Board of Trustees. She speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Susan can be reached at STien@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Eric Whitaker is a Founding Partner of VLP. Prior to joining VLP, Eric was Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Lexar Media, Inc., where he was a member of the senior management team that took Lexar from a private start-up to the 55th largest company in Silicon Valley in six years. Lexar is a leading marketer and manufacturer of NAND flash memory products for the digital photography and consumer electronics markets that was acquired by Micron Technology, Inc. Eric's responsibilities encompassed all legal
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matters including: patent licensing and intellectual property enforcement; securities compliance and SEC filings; counseling of management and Board of Directors on corporate governance and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance; creating and overseeing international growth; and structuring and negotiating major corporate transactions.
At Lexar, Eric also led corporate development activities with a focus on technology licensing; acted as the lead negotiator of supply agreements signed with most of the major semiconductor companies; served as a primary contact for Lexar’s strategic partners; and worked on mergers and acquisitions. Eric also was charged with developing a long-term strategy to protect and monetize Lexar's fundamental intellectual property, which culminated in one of the largest IP verdicts in California history. Prior to Lexar, Eric spent five years as an attorney with Latham & Watkins, specializing in intellectual property and antitrust litigation.
Prior to private practice, Eric was selected as a Fellow with the prestigious Coro Foundation, a post-graduate experiential leadership training program in public affairs. He also served as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Warren Rudman. Eric graduated cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in politics and earned a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was Senior Editor/Ombudsman of the Stanford Law Review. Eric is a member of the State Bar of California.
Eric can be reached at EWhitaker@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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Geoff Willard is a Partner of VLP and is based in Reston, Virginia, where he represents emerging growth companies, their investors, and managers in a wide-range of corporate and commercial transactional matters. Geoff's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt financings (including venture capital, strategic, seed, and angel financings), joint ventures and strategic alliances, and other corporate matters. He also advises clients on the formation and structuring of new business entities, licensing and commercial contracting matters, general employment and equity compensation matters, and corporate governance issues. His clients include both
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established and early-stage companies in the telecommunications, software, Internet, new media, retail, government services, healthcare, life sciences, cleantech/alternative energy, and manufacturing fields, among others. Geoff also represents venture capital, corporate, and strategic investors, as well as founders, managers and boards of start-ups, and principals of venture capital funds. Many of his clients are active in international markets and Geoff has advised on a variety of transactions involving parties or assets based or operating in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Japan, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada, the UK, Spain, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic, among other countries.
Prior to joining VLP, Geoff was a partner with DLA Piper, a major global law firm, and an associate with Cooley Godward, one of the country's premier technology and venture capital law firms, where he engaged in a similar practice. Geoff began his legal career with the international law firm Jones Day, where his practice focused on domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, public company financings, and joint ventures and strategic alliances. During law school, Geoff spent a summer as a law clerk in the Hong Kong office of Heller Ehrman.
In July 2008, Geoff was named a Mergers and Acquisitions "Rising Star" by Virginia Super Lawyers. He has been active in a variety of organizations serving the technology community, including the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association and the Northern Virginia Technology Council, and has published articles on a variety of topics.
Geoff received his J.D., summa cum laude, from American University, where he was a member of the Law Review, and his B.A., cum laude, from New York University, majoring in East Asian Studies and International Politics. Geoff is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia Bars.
Geoff can be reached at GWillard@VirtualLawPartners.com.
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