Sheeva Ghassemi

Office

Silicon Valley

Practices

Industries

Education & Admissions

J.D., Santa Clara University School of Law
Top 15%, Dean's List

B.A., summa cum laude with honors, Political Science
San Jose State University

Admitted to practice in California and Washington State

Admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Member of the Bar Association of Santa Clara

Sheeva is among a small cadre of Silicon Valley attorneys whom influential companies depend on for employment advice and representation.

A standout in California’s labor and employment community, Sheeva has served as a trusted advisor to over a thousand companies (and counting) over her career. She advises companies on day-to-day employment matters, helps them navigate lawsuits filed by employees and guides them through employment issues in financings, mergers and acquisitions and initial public offerings. Sheeva prides herself on being both a legal advisor and business partner to her clients, helping them weigh the legal risks against their business needs. She is often at the forefront of employment issues, including DEI, AI, and the gig economy.

Advice and Counsel

Sheeva counsels innovative Silicon Valley companies on the most essential day-to-day issues in the employment lifecycle, including:

Hiring, performance management and termination (including reductions in force)
Leaves of absence and accommodation
Wage and hour matters
Employee privacy
Non-competition, employee mobility and trade secrets
Employee handbooks and policies
Workforce training, including harassment and discrimination prevention and treatment of confidential information

Employment Litigation

Sheeva is an experienced litigator. She regularly resolves disputes for her clients, including through settlement negotiations and pre-litigation mediation (before a complaint is ever filed). Her litigation practice encompasses harassment, discrimination and retaliation; co-founder and executive departures; trade secret and unfair competition and other employment matters.

Corporate Transactions

Sheeva is frequently called on to guide Fenwick clients on labor and employment questions arising in connection with financings, M&A deals and IPOs. She vets the employment practices of companies the firm’s clients are seeking to acquire or invest in, for example, and the results often affect the terms of the deal. She also represents startups looking to raise money or be acquired and helps them put their best foot forward.

Notable representations include WhatsApp in its record-setting $19 billion acquisition by Facebook and Facebook in its $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality pioneer Oculus VR. She has also advised on M&A transactions on behalf of Cisco, Intuit, Dropbox, Square and numerous other tech innovators. In addition, Sheeva has provided labor and employment due diligence counsel in significant IPOs and SPACs handled by Fenwick, including the firm’s representation of Bill.com in its IPO.

Defended a multitude of technology clients in single plaintiff employment cases involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation, including in court, mediation and arbitration
Advised on employment issues in the IPOs for Bill.com, Velo3D, Peloton, Facebook and others
Represented various companies in mergers and acquisitions, including WhatsApp in its record-setting $19 billion acquisition by Facebook, Facebook in several acquisitions, including in its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, and Cisco Systems, Intuit, Dropbox, Fitbit and many others
Represented scores of startups and investors in financings, including Roofstock’s $20 million Series B financing and Sight Machine’s $13.5 million Series B financing

Defended a multitude of technology clients in single plaintiff employment cases involving discrimination, harassment and retaliation, including in court, mediation and arbitration
Advised on employment issues in the IPOs for Bill.com, Velo3D, Peloton, Facebook and others
Represented various companies in mergers and acquisitions, including WhatsApp in its record-setting $19 billion acquisition by Facebook, Facebook in several acquisitions, including in its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR, and Cisco Systems, Intuit, Dropbox, Fitbit and many others
Represented scores of startups and investors in financings, including Roofstock’s $20 million Series B financing and Sight Machine’s $13.5 million Series B financing

Outside of her day-to-day practice, Sheeva serves as pro bono counsel for the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP. She also participates in several of the firm’s corporate social responsibility outreach programs. In 2020, she attended a service trip to provide limited-scope legal representation of asylum-seeking families detained in the South Texas Family Residential Center.