Chambers ranked Doug as a leading lawyer for U.S. Corporate/M&A law (multiple years from 2006 – 2021)
- Law360 named Doug “Tech MVP of the Year” (2019)
- The Deal named him “Lawyer of the Year” for technology and telecom dealmaking (2018)
Ranked among the nation's leading M&A lawyers, Doug has advised companies on more than $175 billion in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
Doug advises technology and life sciences clients on mergers and acquisitions, strategic and commercial transactions, corporate counseling and governance, securities matters, shareholder activism and takeover defense. He co-chairs Fenwick’s M&A practice and served as a member of the firm’s executive committee for 10 years.
Doug's transactional experience spans over 25 years and includes over $175 billion of completed mergers, acquisitions and divestitures including cross-border transactions in the software, cybersecurity, internet, life sciences, medical devices, telecommunications, networking, semiconductor, computer hardware and consumer products industries.
Doug is ranked by Chambers Global as among the world’s leading lawyers for U.S. Corporate/M&A and is recognized as a Notable Practitioner for Corporate/M&A in the Nationwide–Highly Regarded listings. The publication, which includes client testimonials, recognized him as:
- "He is a fantastic lawyer and a true counselor to the business and legal team. He offers great insights." and "Doug Cogen is absolutely phenomenal! He is strategic, an awesome negotiator and clever. He thinks on his feet and is always looking out for clients' backs but aiming to get a deal done." (2021)
- "Incredibly smart and a consummate professional" and "he's tremendously strategic and knows how to leverage his experience" (2020)
- “Fantastic,” helps clients “understand the legal aspect of a matter without the jargon” (2019)
- “An excellent lawyer, partner and advisor, highly respected by company executives and board members” (2018)
- “Incredibly balanced” (2017)
- A “strategically brilliant practitioner who understands public M&A” (2016)
- Uses “innovative, outside-the-box solutions” (2014)
- “An incredible negotiator who sees the big picture” and “fair and easy to deal with” (2013)
Doug has served as director of Intergovernmental Relations for the New York City Planning Commission. He has also lectured on transactional law at Columbia University Law School, Stanford University Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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Representative Technology Transactions
- Over 150 deals for Cisco Systems, including the acquisitions of:
- Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9B
- NDS Group for $5B
- Acacia Communications for $4.5B
- AppDynamics for $3.7B
- WebEx Communications for $3.2B
- Starent Networks for $2.9B
- Sourcefire for $2.7B
- Duo Security for $2.3B
- BroadSoft for $1.9B
- VeriSign's $21B merger with Network Solutions
- Symantec’s $10.7B sale of its Enterprise Security business to Broadcom
- Concur’s $8.3B acquisition by SAP
- GitHub's $7.5B acquisition by Microsoft
- Symantec’s $7.4B sale of the Veritas information management business to The Carlyle Group
- Excite's $7.2B merger with @Home
- Symantec's $4.65B merger with Blue Coat
- NetScreen Technologies' $4.3B merger with Juniper Networks
- Macromedia's $3.4B merger with Adobe Systems
- Symantec’s $2.3B acquisition of LifeLock
- Fitbit's $2.1B acquisition by Google
- ArcSight’s $1.5B acquisition by Hewlett-Packard
- Elantec Semiconductor's $1.4B acquisition by Intersil
- Over 150 deals for Cisco Systems, including the acquisitions of:
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Representative Life Sciences Transactions
- Loxo Oncology’s $8B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Cepheid’s $4B acquisition by Danaher
- Audentes Therapeutics’ $3B acquisition by Astellas Pharma
- Agilent Technologies’ $1.5B acquisition of Varian
- Dermira’s $1.1B acquisition by Eli Lilly
- Connetics' $930M merger with Stiefel Laboratories
- Veracyte’s $600M acquisition of Decipher Biosciences
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Representative Consumer Products Transactions
- Fitbit’s $2.1B acquisition by Google
- Diamond Foods’ $1.3B acquisition by Snyder’s-Lance
- Diamond Foods’ $615M acquisition of Kettle Chips
- Cisco Systems’ $590M acquisition of Pure Digital
- Cisco Systems’ $500M acquisition of Linksys
- Diamond Foods’ acquisition of the Pop Secret business from General Mills
“A fantastic lawyer and a true counselor to the business and legal team,” Doug Cogen represents companies and boards of directors in significant corporate transactions and governance issues, and sits as co-chair of the firm’s M&A practice. One source reports: “He is strategic, thinks on his feet and is always looking out for clients’ backs but aiming to get a deal done.”
—Chambers USA
2021 Edition
Professional Achievements
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Additional Recognition
- The Daily Journal thrice ranked Doug as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in California (2006, 2013, 2018)
- The Legal 500 recognized Doug in its "Hall of Fame" (2018 – 2020) and as a leading lawyer for “United States - M&A/Corporate” (2014 – 2019)
Lawdragon recognized Doug as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America (2021)
- Finance Monthly twice named Doug “Deal Maker of the Year” (2015, 2017)
- Global M&A Network named him one of the top 50 Global M&A Lawyers (2014), and recognized him as M&A Lawyer of the Year (2010)
- Who’s Who Legal ranked Doug for M&A (2014 – 2021) and Corporate Governance (2018 – 2021)
- IFLR1000 recognized him as an “Elite Dealmaker” (2018)
- Best Lawyers recognized Doug as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for M&A law (2011 – 2020)
- Super Lawyers ranked him as a Northern California “Super Lawyer” (2006 – 2020)
Education & Admissions
J.D., cum laude, University of Michigan Law School
B.A., magna cum laude, with academic honors, Architecture and Society
Brown University
Phi Beta Kappa
Admitted to practice in California and New York