Lisa A. Fontenot is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.  She is a member of the firm's Corporate Transactions, Mergers and Acquisitions and Securities Regulation Groups. 

Ms. Fontenot counsels clients across a variety of industries, including technology companies (including internet, precision automation, semiconductor, software and telecommunications), investment banking and private equity firms, on a broad range of transactional, SEC reporting, corporate governance and general corporate matters.  She has extensive experience representing both U.S. and foreign buyers and sellers in connection with U.S. and cross-border mergers, acquisitions and strategic or venture capital investments. Ms. Fontenot has also represented issuers and investment banks in connection with public and private securities offerings of equity and debt securities. 

Ms. Fontenot is Co-chair of Gibson Dunn's Bay Area Diversity Committee and Hiring Partner.

She received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1994, with distinction as a member of the Order of the Coif and receipt of the Edwin S. Cohen tax scholarship, where she served on the Articles Review Board of the Virgina Journal of International Law.  In 1994, she also received an M.A. degree in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1990, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  

 Representative Matters

• Represented Adept Technology, Inc.,  Amazon.com Inc., Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Del Monte Corporation, GE Power Systems, Giga-tronics Incorporated, Graphisoft NV, Infineon Technologies AG, Intel Corporation, Nortel Networks Corporation, Oldcastle, Inc., PeopleSoft, Inc., Transamerica Finance Corporation and Washington Mutual Bank in numerous private and public company stock or asset acquisitions.
• Represented Intel Corporation, Macrospace, Ltd. and other sellers in connection with sales of assets or the company to strategic buyers, including Intel’s divestiture to Marvell Technology Group and its divestiture and joint venture with STMicroelectronics and Francisco Partners to form Numonyx B.V.
• Represented financial advisors in connection with M&A transactions.
• Represented issuers and investment banks in connection with public and 144A securities offerings, including Adept Technology, Inc., CRL Network Services, Hewlett Packard, Tality Corporation (Cadence), THQ, Inc., Deutsche Bank (Graphisoft), Morgan Stanley & Co (Harrah’s, Whole Foods Market), JPMorganChase (Interpacket Networks, Lexar Media).
• Represented Intel Corporation, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and Xilinx, Inc. in connection with investments in numerous private companies.
• Represented companies such as Adept Technology, Inc., Medem Inc. and MAE Software Inc. issuing equity and debt in connection with various strategic or venture capital investments, including PIPEs.
•  Represented private equity firms such as Gryphon Investors and The Gores Group in connection with acquisitions and restructurings of portfolio companies.

Ms. Fontenot has also acted as external general counsel to private and smallcap companies and advised public companies with respect to their acquisition strategies, including developing M&A policies, forms and procedures.  She is pro bono legal counsel to Precita Eyes Muralists Association, a San Francisco community arts center.

Other Recent Publications Include:

Contributing-Author for The Business Lawyer's 2007 Annual Review of Federal Securities Regulation.

Co-Editor of "A Practical Guide to SEC Proxy and Compensation Rules"  and  contributor to the 2009 Supplement.

Ms. Fontenot also appears as a speaker at continuing legal education programs about securities and corporate governance matters.