Laird Simons was Chair of the Securities Group for 18 years, member of the Executive Committee for eight years and Managing Partner for four years at Fenwick & West LLP. The firm specializes in a full array of services to high technology companies, including Internet companies, computer software and electronics corporations, telecommunications companies, semiconductor manufacturers and medical device and life sciences companies. Laird concentrates his practice in initial public offerings (for both domestic and foreign corporations), follow-on offerings for already public companies and ongoing securities advice and counseling for public companies.
Laird has worked on more than 80 initial public offerings for a wide range of high technology companies, including:
- @Home
- Alliance Semiconductor
- Autoweb.com
- Broadbase Software
- Cadence Design Systems
- CardioGenesis
- Cooper & Chyan Technology
- eBay
- Edify
- Elantec Semiconductor
- Electronic Arts
- ESS Technology
- Exodus Communications
- Genelabs Technologies
- Glu Mobile
- GoRemote Internet Communications
- Green Dot
- HNC Software
- Information Storage Devices
- Insignia Solutions
- Integrated Systems
- Infoblox
- Intuit
- Macromedia
- Macrovision
- NetScreen Technologies
- Oak Technology
- Ocular Sciences
- ONSALE
- Oracle Systems
- Prism Solutions
- Sierra On-Line
- Symantec
- Talarian
- Technology Modeling Associates
- The 3DO Company
- VeriSign
- VERITAS Software
- Versant Object Technology
He has also worked on more than 40 follow-on offerings for the above and other companies.
Laird has represented a number of underwriters, including Cowen & Company, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, Deutsche Bank Securities, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Goldman Sachs & Co., Hambrecht & Quist, J. P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Needham & Company, Piper Jaffray & Co., RBC Capital Markets and Robertson Stephens, in initial public offerings and follow-on offerings for companies such as DemandTec, Omniture, O2Micro, Pixar and SolarWinds.
He has co-chaired the Practising Law Institute's multi-city program on initial public offerings for 20 years and is a regular speaker on a variety of securities topics.
Laird's accolades include:
- Silicon Valley “Lawyer of the Year” in Securities/Capital Markets Law, Best Lawyers, 2013
- Top Securities Attorney, Best Lawyers, 2006-2014
- Northern California Super Lawyer, Securities and Corporate Finance, 2004, 2006-2014
- America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA, 2001, 2003-2006
- Best Corporate Lawyers in America, Corporate Counsel, 2006
- Silicon Valley's Top Lawyers, San Jose Magazine, 2003
- One of 12 Dealmakers of the Year, The American Lawyer, 1999
Practices
Industries
Education & Admissions
M.B.A., Harvard Business School, 1974
with distinction
J.D., Harvard Law School, 1974
B.A., Haverford College, 1970
with honors, Phi Beta Kappa
Member of the State Bar of California