Cooley Elects 18 New Partners for January 1, 2018

New York and Palo Alto – November 29, 2017 – Eighteen Cooley lawyers have been elected to the firm’s partnership effective January 1, 2018. They are located across eight of the firm’s 12 offices.

“As next-generation leaders, our new partners bring a diversity of backgrounds and experiences to our partnership, and we are extraordinarily pleased to welcome them,” said Joe Conroy, Cooley’s chief executive officer. “They represent the best of Cooley through their talent, passion and commitment to our future, and we are confident they will meaningfully contribute to the success of our clients and our firm for many years to come.”

Brian Burke (Reston) – Burke advises high-growth, disruptive companies and the investors that fund them in connection with early stage, venture capital, growth equity, private equity and M&A transactions. He also works with his clients on day-to-day corporate matters as outside general counsel. Burke has worked with hundreds of companies and investors throughout the US and across a wide range of industries. 

Derek Colla (Washington, DC) – Colla focuses on working with high-growth companies and their investors from formation through exit. He works with companies in several industry verticals, including fintech, blockchain technology, digital health, digital media, edtech, software and ecommerce.

Angela Dunning (Palo Alto) – Dunning's litigation practice spans a wide array of matters in federal and state court, including complex commercial disputes, trademark, copyright, trade secrets and unfair competition cases. She has also represented companies and their officers and directors in securities litigation, deal cases and white collar criminal matters. She has tried numerous cases to a jury verdict and has substantial experience in the federal appellate courts, including multiple arguments before the Ninth Circuit.

Adam Gershenson (Boston) – Gershenson helps companies win intellectual property disputes and complex civil litigations. He has successfully represented clients in trials and appeals on bet-the-company matters involving unfair competition, false advertising, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. He has also secured significant trial and appellate victories in cases concerning breaches of contract, constitutional rights and class actions.

Joshua Holleman (Washington, DC) – Holleman practices corporate and securities law with an emphasis on the representation of strategic and financial buyers and sellers in public and private company M&A, along with other complex transactions.

Tanisha James (New York) – James represents and counsels corporate clients in connection with complex domestic and international M&A, strategic investments, joint ventures and government and private antitrust investigations. Her clients regularly entrust her with guiding investors and companies through the HSR merger review analysis and process, negotiating with governmental and private parties, responding to second requests and agency investigations, advocating before the agencies and political bodies, and coordinating antitrust defense strategies around the world. 

Eric Kauffman (San Diego) – Kauffman’s practice is international in scope and encompasses both employment litigation and counseling. He devotes a significant portion of his practice to providing strategic support to leading technology and life sciences companies, and their private equity and venture capital sponsors, on a wide variety of employment law matters. These include transactional matters, M&A – both buy-side and sell-side – financings, spin-offs, divestitures and corporate structuring. 

Daniel Knauss (Palo Alto) – Knauss’ litigation practice focuses on intellectual property, with an emphasis on life sciences. He litigates patent infringement and contract disputes concerning a variety of technologies, including cancer medicines, antiviral therapeutics, biofuels, agriculture and medical devices. He has been to trial in federal courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and at the International Trade Commission.

Susan Krumplitsch (Palo Alto) – Krumplitsch’s litigation practice focuses on intellectual property disputes and strategic counseling for life sciences companies with an emphasis on patent litigation. She represents innovative biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies in trial, appellate and post-grant review proceedings at the US Patent and Trademark Office – including inter partes review proceedings. Her trial experience includes bench and jury trials in federal courts, hearings before the International Trade Commission and domestic arbitrations. 

Jeff Laretto (New York) – Laretto represents high-growth technology companies, predominately those located in and around New York City and Silicon Valley, at all stages of development. He frequently advises on incorporation and organizational matters, angel, seed and venture capital investments, general corporate strategy, venture debt transactions, strategic investments, complex commercial transactions, acquisitions, employment matters, mergers and other sale transactions. He also counsels venture capital funds, private equity funds and strategic investors in connection with investments, acquisitions and divestitures. 

Bradley Libuit (San Francisco) – Libuit practices corporate and securities law. He represents companies at all stages of their life cycle, from startups to large public companies, as well as venture capital firms and other institutional investors. His practice covers a broad range of general corporate and transactional matters, including venture capital financings, public offerings, M&A, corporate governance and SEC reporting and compliance.

Brooke Nussbaum (Washington, DC) – Nussbaum’s practice consists primarily of corporate and securities law. She represents a wide range of private company clients, from newly formed startups to high-growth companies, in all of their corporate needs, including corporate governance matters, equity financings, restructurings, recapitalizations and M&A. She also represents private equity funds, growth equity funds, venture capital funds and other investment entities on their investments in technology and life sciences companies.

John Paul Oleksiuk (Los Angeles) – Oleksiuk's practice focuses on litigation, prosecution and counseling in the fields of trademark and copyright law. He litigates trademark and copyright disputes in federal courts, trademark matters before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and UDRP domain name arbitration proceedings. Oleksiuk manages international trademark portfolios for large and small clients in a variety of industries with a particular emphasis on emerging and technology companies. He provides intellectual property guidance in support of M&A, venture capital financings and other capital markets transactions.

Gerard O’Shea (New York) – O’Shea focuses his practice on employment counseling and litigation for clients ranging from early stage startups to Fortune 100 companies. He assists his clients in all aspects of employment law, including implementing employment policies and procedures to protect intellectual property and knowledge capital. He assists clients with hiring talent and terminating employment, providing counsel  on – and litigating – employee mobility issues, including enforcement of employee non-competes and risk management relating to hiring candidates who have non-competes with former employers.

Joshua Rottner (Boston) – Rottner’s corporate practice has an emphasis on representing high-growth technology and life sciences companies throughout their life cycle, from entity formation through debt and equity financings, to liquidity events such as M&A transactions and public offerings. He also advises public companies in M&A transactions, public offerings and SEC periodic reporting and compliance. In addition, Rottner regularly represents venture capital, growth equity and private equity investors in connection with portfolio company investments and acquisitions.

Jason Savich (San Francisco) – Savich advises borrowers, banks and non-bank lenders in a broad range of public and private debt financings, including convertible and high-yield bonds, acquisition financings, secured and unsecured credit facilities and various structured financings.

Megan Arthur Schilling (San Diego) – Schilling focuses on compensation and benefits for public and private companies, and she counsels companies on designing, implementing and disclosing employment, incentive, change-in-control and severance arrangements. She provides strategic advice to boards of directors and management teams on these matters as well as new developments and evolving best practices in executive compensation, corporate governance and shareholder engagement. She has significant experience advising public companies on the impact of ISS, Glass Lewis and institutional investor policies and the shareholder relations issues that arise in connection with compensation and corporate governance matters.

Adriana Lofaro Wirtz (New York) – Wirtz’s practice focuses on tax controversy and litigation. She has extensive experience representing clients at all phases of a tax controversy from audit through litigation, including representing clients before the IRS Office of Appeals, US Tax Court, US district courts and federal courts of appeal, as well as state taxing authorities and state courts. She also regularly advises clients on tax compliance matters, such as US reporting obligations and withholding tax issues.

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