Cooley Elects Nine New Partners
Palo Alto – December 4, 2014 – Nine attorneys have been elected to Cooley's partnership, effective January 1, 2015.
"We are proud to welcome these nine impressive individuals and very talented lawyers into our partnership," said Joe Conroy, Cooley's CEO. "Our new partners are future leaders in their respective fields and they will make important contributions to Cooley as we continue to grow and pursue our strategic initiatives."
Cooley's 2015 Partner Class
John Clendenin (Palo Alto) – Clendenin's practice focuses on the representation of domestic and international investment funds, including venture capital, private equity, fund-of-funds, secondary funds and special opportunity funds. He has represented sponsor organizations in the formation of over 50 fund programs, ranging from well-known multi-billion dollar investment firms to much smaller firms forming seed and early-stage venture capital, angel and microcap funds. Clendenin also represents a number of emerging growth companies in financing transactions and general corporate matters. He received a joint JD/MBA degree from the University of California, Davis in 2005. In law school, he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the UC Davis Business Law Journal and was a member of the Moot Court Board. He earned his BA, magna cum laude, in Business Administration from the University of Washington in 2001.
Matthew Dubofsky (Colorado) – Dubofsky is a member of Cooley's business and finance practice. He focuses on the representation of companies in a variety of corporate matters, including public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and securities law disclosure and compliance. Dubofsky received a JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2004, and a BA in Economics and History from Brown University in 2000.
Nick Hobson (Los Angeles) – Hobson is a member of Cooley's emerging companies practice and was a founding member of the firm's Los Angeles office. Hobson concentrates his practice on the representation of emerging growth companies at all stages and the venture capital firms and strategic investors that finance those companies. Hobson received his JD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 2007, and his BA in Economics from Princeton University in 2004.
Jeff Kaban (Palo Alto) – Kaban is a member of Cooley's business litigation practice and maintains a particular focus in the areas of securities, white collar, regulatory and complex commercial litigation. Kaban regularly advises clients on matters pertaining to officer and director liability, mergers and acquisitions, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, white collar and securities fraud. He has deep experience in securities class actions and shareholder derivative actions, as well as in investigations and proceedings brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Department of Justice. Kaban received his JD, magna cum laude, in 2004 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a member of the Thurston Society and served as Senior Notes Editor for the Hastings Law Journal. Kaban graduated, cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis, MO in 1996 with a BA in History.
Benjamin Kleine (San Francisco) – Kleine is a member of Cooley's litigation department. He has a broad commercial litigation practice representing technology clients in complex litigation, including privacy litigation, class action defense and contractual/licensing disputes. He received his JD in 2005 from New York University School of Law, his MA from the University of Chicago in 2001, and his BA from Brown University in 1998. He began his career with Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman, which merged with Cooley in 2006.
James Lu (Shanghai) – Lu is a member of Cooley's business and finance practice. His practice encompasses China-related corporate transactions, including foreign direct investment, venture capital financing, private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions and public offerings. He also has broad experience advising clients on complex cross-border commercial transactions, including licensing, joint venture, manufacturing and distribution arrangements in the life sciences and high-tech industries in China. Lu received his JD, summa cum laude, from the University of San Diego, School of Law, where he was valedictorian and a member of the Order of the Coif. Lu received his MS in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and attended the Gifted Class program at the University of Science and Technology of China, where he earned his BS degree. Lu is a native Mandarin speaker and is fluent in English.
Phillip Morton (Reston) – Morton is a member of Cooley's intellectual property litigation practice. His practice is comprised of litigation and counseling across a wide range of technologies, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation. Morton has experience in intellectual property disputes in district courts throughout the country, the International Trade Commission and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Morton earned a JD with honors from The George Washington University Law School in 2005. During law school, he was managing editor of the George Washington International Law Review. He earned a BSE, magna cum laude, in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University in 2001.
Rama Padmanabhan (San Diego) – Padmanabhan is a member of Cooley's mergers and acquisitions practice. She specializes in all types of public and private merger and acquisition transactions, including tender offers, public mergers, options to buy, cross border transactions, joint ventures and other complex transactions. Padmanabhan received her JD from Harvard Law School and a MPP from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She received an AB in Mathematics and Economics from Mount Holyoke College.
Scott Weston (Boston) – Weston is a member of Cooley's patent counseling and prosecution practice. His practice includes patent preparation and prosecution, portfolio development, patent infringement litigation, product clearance, freedom to operate analysis, and intellectual property due diligence. Weston has experience with a variety of technologies including mechanical and medical devices, energy and power storage devices, electrode materials, battery chemistries, natural gas production and processing, natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation and storage, carbon capture and sequestration, fluid dynamics, microfluidics, separations, electrochemical depositions, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Weston received his JD in 2003 from Wayne State University School of Law and a BSE in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1998.
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