WilmerHale lawyers have decades of experience advising public and private companies in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions.

We leverage technical knowledge, business acumen and legal experience to structure, prepare and negotiate innovative and effective technology-related agreements.

Our clients in the ever-changing and fiercely competitive hardware, software, IT and services industries depend on us to strategize and negotiate transactions that take advantage of opportunities now while protecting their innovations and preserving flexibility for the future. We structure, negotiate and draft all types of licensing, distribution, product development, joint venture and strategic alliance agreements for these clients, often drawing on the deep experience of WilmerHale’s unique capabilities in regulatory, intellectual property, corporate and tax law. We represent both mature and emerging companies with business models centered around offering software and/or professional services relating to analyzing and extracting insights from large data sets. We frequently draft and negotiate data license agreements, software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreements, website terms and other services agreements in which data is the core subject of the license. We also advise technology clients on big data issues that arise in outsourcing, joint venture and other transactional matters. Our attorneys keep a close watch on internet-related legislative and regulatory developments in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere, and leverage our up-to-the-minute knowledge to advise clients in areas such as data privacy and security, copyright infringement, and export restrictions.

For companies in the life sciences sphere, licensing intellectual property and establishing strategic alliances are critical. WilmerHale’s experienced licensing lawyers shepherd biotech, pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical device clients of all sizes through the complex transactions that make their businesses possible, including a broad range of licensing, collaboration, strategic alliance and joint venture agreements. Our attorneys also excel at brokering manufacturing and supply agreements, contract research and development agreements, distribution and commercialization services agreements, and material transfer and confidentiality agreements. They also frequently represent life sciences clients as they license patents—often the foundations of their companies—from, and sponsor research at, leading academic institutions across the United States and Europe. Backed not only by their own experience but also the deep well of knowledge possessed by the firm’s patent, tax, antitrust and EU competition lawyers, our transactional attorneys are ready to handle even the most multifaceted matters. Our team helps clients protect their innovations, forge strategic alliances, and successfully navigate a complex, dynamic industry.

Advising life sciences innovators, investors and industry leaders on complex transactions, legal issues and business challenges.

Comprehensive counseling for healthcare providers, insurers and the companies that supply them with products and services.

WilmerHale’s lawyers are renowned for their work on mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, private equity deals, strategic alliances and corporate governance matters both domestically and in the EU and China. Healthcare clients, which include Medtronic and PerkinElmer, know us as a one-stop source for solutions to the diverse array of corporate issues they face.

For clients that range from public and private companies to individual entrepreneurs, our corporate lawyers have:

• Served as issuer counsel or underwriters’ counsel in more than 400 public offerings and Rule 144A placements raising nearly $150 billion since 2006. We have a wide array of capital markets experience, as well as significant commercial finance knowledge.
• Advised on more than 1,000 M&A deals with a total value in excess of $400 billion since 2006. Our experience ranges from public-public mergers and related SEC, disclosure and fiduciary duty issues to the unique issues presented by sales of private equity and venture-backed private companies.
• Handled hundreds of strategic alliances, joint ventures, outsourcing and licensing transactions each year, including several strategic alliances that have received industry recognition for their importance. The complexity of these deals often demands deep experience and close collaboration among our corporate, licensing, intellectual property and tax lawyers, as well as our lawyers in the United States, Europe and Asia.

A deep and diverse practice focused on maximizing tax efficiencies and minimizing tax risks for clients nationally and internationally.

With a team of lawyers recognized nationally as leading practitioners in the field, we regularly advise public and private companies, their shareholders and their key employees on tax aspects of mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures. Clients rely on our advice to maximize their tax efficiencies and minimize their tax risks. Our clients include businesses from a wide range of sectors: technology, life sciences, publishing, telecommunications, aviation and defense, venture capital and private equity. We develop tax-efficient structures that help clients achieve business objectives and negotiate appropriate contractual protections against the assumption of unwanted tax risks.

Providing a strategic, multidisciplinary approach to help clients develop and use AI and to navigate the landscape of Big Data.

WilmerHale’s corporate lawyers have a long history of experience with cross-border deals involving mergers and acquisitions, public offerings and capital markets, venture capital, joint ventures and other transactions.