Eric S. Whitaker
Founding Attorney
Location / Bay Area
Phone / (510) 250-0858
Email /
Admissions /
State Bar of California
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 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.