UCLA Law Features Michael Brown on Handling Some of Tech's Biggest Transactions

Corporate partner Michael Brown peeled back the curtain for his alma mater UCLA Law about what it's like advising some of the tech sector's highest-profile transactions.

"Advising the Coinbase direct listing stands out," he told UCLA Law's Careers in Focus. "There’s no playbook for something like this, which was a first-of-its-kind transaction. And without a playbook, we had to build one."

And then there's Wiz's historic, $32 billion sale to Google—the largest cybersecurity deal of all time—a personal highlight, not just the scale but for what it represents as the culmination of a deep client relationship, he said. 

"Success, for me, now and in the future, means being the kind of trusted advisor that founders and management teams can call at every stage of their company’s lifecycle," Brown said. "My job is to understand each client's business and goals deeply enough that I can move quickly and give them practical, real-time advice."

The Coinbase listing won Brown his first Dealmakers of the Year award from The American Lawyer, and Wiz won him his most recent.

Brown said he thrives on the variation that transactional work brings.

"There's no such thing as a typical day, which is part of what I love about this work," he said. "On any given day, I might need to negotiate term sheets for an early-stage private company financing, walk a founder through the implementation of dual-class common stock in connection with an initial public offering, advise on key terms to an acquisition, or attend a board of directors meeting, sometimes, one right after another."

Read the full interview at UCLA Law's Careers in Focus.