Ranked among the nation's leading M&A lawyers, Doug has advised companies on more than $150 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 25 years and includes over $150 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:

  • "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.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  • Representative Technology Transactions

    Over 125 deals for Cisco Systems, including the acquisitions of:

    · Scientific-Atlanta for $6.9B

    · NDS Group for $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

    Multiple deals for Symantec, including:

    · Sale of its Enterprise Security business to Broadcom for $10.7B

    · Sale of the Veritas information management business to The Carlyle Group for $7.4B

    · Merger with Blue Coat for $4.65B

    · Acquisition of LifeLock for $2.3B

    · Sale of the website security solutions business to DigiCert for ~$1B

    Other transactions:

    · VeriSign's $21B merger with Network Solutions

    · Concur’s $8.3B acquisition by SAP

    · GitHub's $7.5B acquisition by Microsoft

    · Excite's $7.2B merger with @Home

    · NetScreen Technologies' $4.3B merger with Juniper Networks

    · Macromedia's $3.4B merger with Adobe Systems

    · Fitbit's $2.1B acquisition by Google

    · ArcSight’s $1.5B acquisition by Hewlett-Packard

    · Elantec Semiconductor's $1.4B acquisition by Intersil

  • 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

“‘Incredibly smart and a consummate professional,’ 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’s tremendously strategic and knows how to leverage his experience.’”

—Chambers USA 2020 Edition

Professional Achievements

  • Chambers ranked Doug as a leading lawyer for U.S. Corporate/M&A law (multiple years from 2006 – 2020)
  • Law360 named Doug “Tech MVP of the Year” (2019)
  • The Deal named him “Lawyer of the Year” for technology and telecom dealmaking (2018)
  • 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)
    • 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

Practices

Industries

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