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MoFo Advises The Change.org Charitable Foundation in Acquisition of Change.org

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Morrison & Foerster advised The Change.org Charitable Foundation in connection with a series of transactions that led to the Change.org Foundation becoming the sole stockholder of Change.org. Change.org's transition to 100% nonprofit ownership establishes it as the world’s largest nonprofit-owned tech platform for social change.

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Morrison & Foerster advised The Change.org Charitable Foundation in connection with a series of transactions that led to the Change.org Foundation becoming the sole stockholder of Change.org. Change.org's transition to 100% nonprofit ownership establishes it as the world’s largest nonprofit-owned tech platform for social change.Over the past decade, more than 450 million people have come to rely on Change.org as a platform to raise their voice on issues they care about. The new nonprofit ownership and governance structure secures the long-term stewardship of Change.org as a digital public utility committed to public interest, and positions Change.org for its next phase of growth: from a single product company focused on petitions to a civic infrastructure platform that empowers people to build healthier, more participatory and responsive democratic societies.The MoFo team was led by San Francisco corporate partner Suz Mac Cormac and associate Harry Stanwyck. The wider team included San Francisco tax partner Bernie Pistillo, of counsel Joy MacIntyre, and associate Lauren Keller, New York tax of counsel Rebecca Balinskas, and Berlin tax partner Jens-Uwe Hinder and associate Jenny Broekmann; San Francisco employment of counsel Lloyd Aubry; San Francisco executive compensation partner Amanda Hines Gold; San Francisco corporate partner Michael O’Bryan; and San Francisco litigation partner Robert May.MoFo partnered in representing the Foundation with Adler & Colvin and R. Todd Johnson, the former Jones Day partner who led the team representing the Foundation and effecting the transaction.Read more about the transaction in Change.org’s <a href="https://change-org.medium.com/change-org-is-now-100-nonprofit-owned-c2aeaf8d0c66" target="_blank">press release</a>.

MoFo Advises The Change.org Charitable Foundation in Acquisition of Change.org

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Susan (“Suz”) co-chairs the ESG + Sustainability and Social Enterprise + Impact Investing practices. Her practice focuses on late-stage financings, secondaries, and other corporate transactions for investors, such as SoftBank and Temasek, and on investments for some of the top investors dedicated to impact, from “impact first” foundations to family offices to private equity funds. She co-led the drafting group for the first of the new corporate forms (the Social Purpose Corporation in California), has created hybrid/tandem corporate structures and crafted debt and equity instruments that blend impact with traditional financial terms, and has used corporate law to develop creative capital market solutions to pressing environmental problems. She also advises the boards of public and private companies on corporate governance and fiduciary duties as applied to sustainability and climate change.She was named a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) in 2012 and 2016 by Daily Journal and the Most Innovative Lawyer in North America in 2015 by the Financial Times.Leading Business AdvisorA powerhouse negotiator, clients note that “you cannot get a better corporate counsel” and that Suz “understands the big picture, could not be more responsive, and understands the business” (The Legal 500 US). She has extensive experience providing corporate and finance advice to companies and investors in connection with growth equity financings and secondaries, with particular experience in late-stage investments that have come to rival traditional strategic acquisitions in size and significance. Her experience includes leading some of the highest-profile late-stage investments over the past few years, including notable transactions for SoftBank Group (in the two largest private tender offers in history) in its $7.7 billion investment in Uber, $4.4 billion investment in WeWork, further $10 billion investment in WeWork, $1 billion investment in SoFi, and $250 million investment in Kabbage. She has also advised Temasek on its $800 million investment in Verily Life Sciences, Intel on its equity investment in Cloudera, and each of Fortress, TPG Rise, Vision Ridge Partners, Generation Investment Management, and Pontifax AgTech in numerous mid- to late-stage investments in clean technology, sustainability, education, food, and agriculture technology.Social Enterprise and Impact InvestingSuz is the go-to legal resource for social enterprises (for-profit and non-profit companies focused on social or environmental purpose), impact investors (investors interested in social or environmental returns), and mainstream companies developing environmental, social, and corporate governance policies. With deep expertise in the impact investing model, institutional investors exploring the space turn to her for creative solutions and her ability to structure both investments and companies to emphasize impact and returns.She represents a wide range of investors who are focused on impact, from foundations like the Gates Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and The Rockefeller Foundation, to family offices like Armonia, Cornerstone Capital, Emerson Collective, New Island Capital, and Omidyar Network, to private equity funds like Goldman Sachs, TPG Rise, Vision Ridge Partners, and Generation Investment Management, in their equity investments in companies and projects that are focused on generating impact and returns for investors. She has deep experience and expertise ensuring energy, sustainability, and other investments have positive impact through the use of new corporate forms, hybrid or “tandem” structures with non-profits and for-profits, and alternative debt and equity instruments.Notable work in this space includes the establishment of a tandem structure, The Carbon Endowment, to retire coal assets at scale while securing a revenue stream for community reinvestment and job training in coal communities. Suz also advised on the structuring of Common Sense Growth as an extension of the non-profit Common Sense Media (to invest in companies that address issues related to children, education, and technology), the establishment of a fund for TPG Rise to provide debt financing to Echoing Green fellows, the spin-out of PRX from Public Radio International (to generate new revenue flows up to the non-profit), the establishment of a for-profit joint venture with non-profit Medicines360 (to allow the non-profit to distribute its healthcare products to women in the developing world), and the structuring of a for-profit evergreen fund that allows The Nature Conservancy to aggregate return-seeking and donor capital in order to invest in preserving our natural resources. She has also advised numerous clients on converting to a public benefit corporation or social purpose corporation model (which requires balancing traditional fiduciary duties against a social or environmental purpose), including This American Life, Revolution Foods, Rise Labs, and Beneficial State Bancorp.Suz also regularly advises boards of directors of private and public companies, special committees, and CEOs on corporate governance, particularly the intersection of fiduciary duties with sustainability, and focuses on environmental, social, and governance issues.Unmatched Cleantech and Renewable Energy ExperienceIn addition to founding and chairing the firm’s Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Group, Suz serves as Chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Energy Group and has extensive experience representing start-up to late stage private companies in the clean technology or sustainability space. She provides corporate and finance advice in connection with equity and debt financings, mergers, acquisitions, asset purchases and sales, reorganizations, and joint ventures. She has experience working with renewable energy start-up companies and renewable energy developers in the solar, wind, and biofuels industries. Suz has assisted renewable energy start up companies with raising venture capital and has advised renewable energy developers on project acquisitions.Suz’s representative renewable energy, cleantech, sustainable, and social enterprise clients include Anaergia, Change.org, EDF Renewables, E.ON, Etsy, First Look, OneSun, Planet Labs, Rising Sun Energy, RSF Social Finance, SustainBio, Trelys, Inc., Wikipedia, and Xpansiv.Board Activity and Thought LeadershipMs. Mac Cormac was a founding board member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), is a member of the board of directors of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), the Ceres President’s Council, and the Earth Genome Project, and is an advising board member of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy’s Strategic Investor Initiative.She has joined the faculty (teaching on the intersection of sustainability and fiduciary duties) at both the Stanford Director’s College and the Northwestern Corporate Counsel Institute and is an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, teaching a course on Social Enterprise.

Susan Mac Cormac

Partner

Bernie Pistillo is a partner in the San Francisco office of the firm’s Federal Tax Group. He regularly advises on the U.S. federal income tax aspects of international and domestic mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and spin-offs, and tax controversy matters in the international area, particularly transfer pricing, the development and exploitation of technology and intellectual property and the structuring of international operations for both start-up entities and existing corporate groups. His practice involves the coordination of tax laws in multiple jurisdictions to develop and implement cross-jurisdictional tax planning, overall operational synergies and worldwide tax minimization strategies. He also is regularly involved in the negotiation of strategic joint ventures and partnerships and the structuring of private equity funds and their investments. Bernie also advises on financial product development and the tax aspects of financial institution and insurance company operations.Bernie is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Tulane University School of Law, the Steering Committee of the Northern California Chapter of the U.S.A. Branch of the International Fiscal Association, the Planning Committee for the USC Gould School of Law Tax Institute, and the Tax Review and the Tax Club, both in New York City. He is admitted to practice in California, New York and Arizona.He is a frequent lecturer and author on matters relating to international taxation and corporate taxation generally.Bernie is recommended by Legal 500 US for US Taxes: Contentious, US Taxes: Non-Contentious and International Tax.Recent Client Transactions include:<ul><li>Softbank Corp. in connection with its $1 billion investment in WorldVu Satellites Ltd (OneWeb) and of SoftBank and OneWeb in connection with the negotiation and execution of an agreement pursuant to which OneWeb will merge with Intelsat SA in a share-for-share transaction.</li><li>Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd in making an $800 million investment in Verily Life Sciences (formerly Google Life Sciences), Alphabet’s health-focused subsidiary.</li><li>Boyd Gaming Corporation in the sale of its 50% equity interest, valued at $900 million, in Marina District Development Holding Company, LLC, the parent company of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to MGM Resorts International.</li><li>The co-founder of Broadcom Corp. in connection with its acquisition by Avago Technologies Ltd. in a cash and stock transaction with a combined enterprise value of $77 billion.</li><li>VMWare in planning a joint venture with EMC Corporation to form a new cloud services business, as well as in connection with the planned $67 billion acquisition of EMC by Dell Inc. using tracking stock of VMWare.</li><li>McKesson Corporation in numerous acquisitions in the healthcare and related areas.</li><li>SoftBank Corp. in connection with its acquisition of a 78% interest in Sprint Nextel for an enterprise value of $44.8 billion.</li><li>MicroPort Scientific Corp. in connection with its acquisition of the worldwide OrthoRecon operating segment of Wright Medical Group Inc.</li><li>Toshiba Tec Corp. on its $874 million acquisition of the worldwide retail store solutions business of IBM Corp.</li><li>Textainer Group Holdings Ltd. in connection with a review of its worldwide operating structure to improve financial and legal efficiencies.</li><li>Novellus Inc. in its tax-free stock-for-stock acquisition by Lam Research Corp valued at $3.3 billion.</li><li>Carlyle Group in its acquisition of Walbro Engine Management from Sun Capital Partners and related LBO financing</li></ul>

Bernie J. Pistillo

Rebecca Midori Ulich-Balinskas is of counsel in the State and Local Tax Group in Morrison & Foerster’s New York office. Her practice focuses on state and local tax controversies at the audit, administrative, and judicial levels. Mrs. Balinskas’ practice encompasses matters regarding sales and use tax, property tax, franchise and income tax, gross receipts tax, insurance tax, and telecommunications tax, among others.Mrs. Balinskas has written and spoken on various state and local tax issues. In addition, she is a co-editor of the firm’s newsletter International Tax Disputes Insights.Mrs. Balinskas obtained her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. She earned her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, where she served as an Articles Editor of the St. John’s Law Review. Mrs. Balinskas received her B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Columbia University, Barnard College.

Rebecca M. Balinskas

Of Counsel

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe title="Meet Jens-Uwe Hinder, Tax Partner" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6r09Nbw4Syk?rel=0&showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="1" class="sticky-video" title="iframe"></iframe></div>With more than 20 years of experience advising German and international institutional and private investors, Jens-Uwe is the go-to partner in our German office when it comes to tax advice. One of his key focuses is advising clients in connection with their cross-border investments (share and asset deals), including tax structuring, contract drafting, and negotiating and implementing tax structures, as well as supporting them with their project management and due diligence processes or restructuring their businesses. He regularly advises clients in the media, technology, real estate, and transportation sectors.In addition to advising national and multinational enterprises, Jens-Uwe has also established a reputation for advising publicly owned undertakings, especially on tax matters in connection with their commercial businesses, such as sale and leaseback transactions, or in conjunction with their real estate assets.Jens-Uwe has been lecturing about tax and business law at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin since 2004 and income tax and international tax at the University of Potsdam since 2015. He regularly publishes in the areas of corporate income tax, trade tax matters, and international tax.He is frequently recommended in legal directories, including Legal 500, Best Lawyers, and JUVE, one of Germany’s main legal directories, describing his practice as “highly regarded for its tax law capability.” He has won the European Tax Awards from International Tax Review twice.At MoFo, Jens-Uwe heads our German Tax practice. He is an acknowledged Tax Adviser by the Berlin Senate Administration for Finance.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>21st Century Fox regarding the sale of the Fox Mobile Group (Jamba!) to a financial investor.</li><li>21st Century Fox on the subscription of a convertible bond and the capital increase of Sky.</li><li>DAM Invest on the restructuring of financing and the acquisition of RAIL.ONE by AXA PE.</li><li>Italian investor group on the acquisition of a property portfolio.</li><li>Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe in connection with international leasing structures.</li><li>Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe in connection with the sale of the Potsdamer Strasse properties in Berlin.</li><li>KEOLIS on the bidding process for Arriva Deutschland. </li><li>JER Real Estate Partners on the sale of a residential and commercial real estate portfolio of 40 properties for a purchase price of €160 million.</li><li>APN Funds Management Limited regarding the acquisition of 200 shopping centers throughout Germany for approx. €600 million.</li><li>Colony Capital on investment matters concerning national and international investment in the US Colony Real Estate III funds.</li><li>Deutsche Bank, London, on the international tax structuring of the acquisition of a shopping center in Germany.</li><li>Catalyst Capital on the international tax structuring of investments in Berlin.</li><li>PubliGroupe S.A. with regard to a joint venture (Zanox) with Axel Springer.</li></ul>

Dr. Jens-Uwe Hinder berät seit mehr als 20 Jahren nationale sowie internationale institutionelle und private Investoren und ist der erste Ansprechpartner unseres deutschen Büros, wenn es um steuerrechtliche Fragestellungen geht. Er berät Mandanten schwerpunktmäßig in Zusammenhang mit grenzüberschreitenden Investitionen (Share und Asset Deals), einschließlich Steuerstrukturierung, Vertragsgestaltung sowie Verhandlung und Umsetzung komplexer Steuerstrukturen. Er unterstützt Mandanten auch bei deren Projektsteuerung, Due Diligence und Unternehmensrestrukturierungen mit einem besonderen Fokus auf die Branchen Medien, Technologie, Immobilien und Transportwesen.Neben der Beratung von nationalen und multinationalen Unternehmen, ist Dr. Jens-Uwe Hinder ein erfahrener und angesehener Berater von Unternehmen der öffentlichen Hand, die er bei steuerlichen Fragen im Zusammenhang mit ihren Betrieben gewerblicher Art, wie zum Beispiel Sale-and-lease-back-Transaktionen, sowie im Zusammenhang mit ihrem Immobilienvermögen berät.Von 2004 - 2018 lehrte Dr. Jens-Uwe Hinder Steuer- und Wirtschaftsrecht an der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin und seit 2015 lehrt er Einkommenssteuerrecht und Internationales Steuerrecht an der Universität Potsdam. Er veröffentlicht regelmäßig zu Fragen des Körperschaftsteuer- und Gewerbesteuerrechts sowie des internationalen Steuerrechts.Legal 500, Best Lawyers und JUVE empfehlen Dr. Jens-Uwe Hinder regelmäßig für seine Beratungstätigkeit und JUVE, Deutschlands führendes Anwaltsverzeichnis, beschreibt seine Praxis als „hoch angesehen für ihre steuerrechtlichen Fähigkeiten“. Er wurde bereits zweimal mit dem „European Tax Award“ des International Tax Review ausgezeichnet.Dr. Jens-Uwe Hinder ist Leiter der Praxisgruppe Steuer-und Bilanzrecht in Deutschland. Er hat seinen LL.M. an der University of San Diego und seinen Doktortitel (Dr. iur.) an der Universität Münster erworben. Er hat zudem einen Abschluss als staatlich geprüfter Steuerberater von der Senatsverwaltung für Finanzen in Berlin.<h4>Referenzen</h4><ul><li>Beratung von 21st Century Fox beim Verkauf von Sky Deutschland an BSkyB</li><li>Beratung der Anschutz Entertainment Group beim Verkauf von Projektentwicklungsimmobilien</li><li>Beratung einer kanadischen Pensionskasse bei Joint Venture Investitionen in Deutschland</li><li>Beratung von 21st Century Fox bei der Veräußerung der Fox Mobile Group (Jamba!) an einen Finanzinvestor</li><li>Beratung von 21st Century Fox  bei der Zeichnung einer Wandelschuldverschreibung und der Kapitalerhöhung bei Sky</li><li>Beratung der DAM Invest bei der Restrukturierung, der Finanzierung und dem Erwerb von RAIL.ONE von AXA PE</li><li>Beratung einer italienischen Investorengruppe beim Erwerb eines Immobilienportfolios</li><li>Beratung der Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe im Zusammenhang mit internationalen Leasingstrukturen</li><li>Beratung der Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe im Zusammenhang mit dem Verkauf der Immobilien Potsdamer Straße in Berlin</li><li>Beratung der KEOLIS beim Bieterverfahren für die Arriva Deutschland</li><li>Beratung der JER Real Estate Partners bei der Veräußerung eines Wohn- und Gewerbeimmobilienportfolios von 40 Objekten zu einem Kaufpreis von EUR 160 Millionen</li><li>Beratung der APN Funds Management Limited hinsichtlich des Erwerbs von 200 Einkaufszentren deutschlandweit für ca. EUR 600 Millionen</li><li>Beratung der Colony Capital bei Investitionsfragen bezüglich der Beteiligung von nationalen und internationalen Investoren an den US Colony Real Estate III Fonds</li><li>Beratung der Deutschen Bank, London, bei der internationalen Steuerstrukturierung des Erwerbs eines Einkaufszentrums in Deutschland</li><li>Beratung der Catalyst Capital bei der internationalen Steuerstrukturierung von Investitionen in Berlin</li><li>Beratung der PubliGroupe S.A. in Bezug auf ein Joint Venture (Zanox) mit Axel Springer</li></ul>

Jens-Uwe Hinder

Jenny is a senior associate at Morrison Foerster’s German office in Berlin. She advises domestic and international clients, in particular in the media, technology, real estate, and transportation sectors, on all tax law issues.One of her key focuses is national and international corporate tax law, with particular emphasis on tax structuring and transactional advice. Furthermore, she has specialized, extensive knowledge in providing comprehensive tax law advice to public-sector companies.In addition, Jenny also advises domestic and international clients, as well as their in-house tax law departments, on questions regarding the taxation of their employees. This especially includes advice on the structuring of employee participation programs and advice on all kinds of wage tax issues, such as the taxation of monetary benefits or questions regarding the posting of employees.She also focuses on tax advice in connection with cross-border investments (share and asset deals), including tax structuring, contract drafting, and the negotiation and implementation of complex tax structures.In addition, she advises NGOs on all nonprofit and association law issues.Jenny has more than six years of professional experience in the field of tax law. Before joining Morrison & Foerster, she worked as a research assistant with a focus on tax law in an international law firm in Berlin. She studied law at the University of Münster and wrote her doctoral thesis on the taxation of the use of assets under German exit tax rules (Sec. 4 (1) s. 3, 4 German Income Tax Act, Sec. 12 (1) German Corporate Tax Act).Representative Experience<ul><li>Tax advice to the shareholders of Scienion AG on the sale of their shares to the Swedish company Cellink AB, listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.</li><li>Tax advice to the Swiss asset manager Kieger on the acquisition of the legal personnel service provider Perconex.</li><li>Tax advice to the leading global dating platform Spark Networks SE on the acquisition of Zoosk, Inc.</li><li>Tax advice to Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe in connection with international leasing structures.</li><li>Comprehensive tax advice to a German real estate company on restructuring options and the implementation of a cross-border merger.</li><li>Tax advice with respect to employee participation programs.</li></ul>

Dr. Jenny Broekmann ist Senior Associate des deutschen Büros von Morrison Foerster in Berlin. Sie berät nationale und internationale Mandanten zu allen steuerrechtlichen Fragestellungen mit einem Fokus auf den Branchen Medien, Technologie, Immobilien und Transportwesen.Schwerpunktmäßig ist sie im Bereich des nationalen sowie internationalen Unternehmenssteuerrechts und dabei vor allem in der steuerlichen Gestaltungs- und Transaktionsberatung tätig. Sie ist zudem auf die umfassende steuerrechtliche Beratung von Unternehmen der öffentlichen Hand, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit Betrieben gewerblicher Art, spezialisiert.Ebenso berät Dr. Jenny Broekmann deutsche und internationale Mandanten und deren Inhouse-Steuerrechtsabteilungen zu Fragen im Bereich der Besteuerung ihrer Arbeitnehmer, u.a. zur Ausgestaltung von Mitarbeiterbeteiligungsprogrammen, zu lohnsteuerrechtlichen Fragen zur Besteuerung geldwerter Vorteile und zur Arbeitnehmerentsendung.Zudem ist sie auf die Beratung im Zusammenhang mit grenzüberschreitenden Investitionen (Share und Asset Deals), einschließlich der Steuerstrukturierung, der Vertragsgestaltung sowie der Verhandlung und Umsetzung komplexer Steuerstrukturen fokussiert.Überdies berät sie NGOs in sämtlichen gemeinnützigkeits- und vereinsrechtlichen Fragestellungen.Dr. Jenny Broekmann verfügt über mehr als sechs Jahre anwaltliche Berufserfahrung im Bereich des Steuerrechts. Vor ihrem Eintritt bei Morrison & Foerster arbeitete sie promotionsbegleitend als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin mit steuerrechtlichem Fokus in einer internationalen Wirtschaftskanzlei in Berlin. Sie studierte Rechtswissenschaften an der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität in Münster und verfasste ihre Promotion zum Thema der Entstrickungsbesteuerung in Deutschland (§ 4 Abs. 1 Satz 3, 4 EStG, § 12 Abs. 1 KStG).<h4>Referenzen</h4><ul><li>Steuerrechtliche Beratung der Aktionäre der Scienion AG beim Verkauf aller Aktien an das an der Nasdaq Stockholm notierte schwedische Unternehmen Cellink AB </li><li>Steuerliche Beratung des Schweizer Asset-Managers Kieger beim Kauf des juristischen Personaldienstleisters Perconex </li><li>Steuerliche Beratung der führenden globalen Dating-Plattform Spark Networks SE beim Kauf der Zoosk, Inc. </li><li>Beratung der Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe im Zusammenhang mit internationalen Leasingstrukturen</li><li>Umfassende steuerliche Beratung eines deutschen Immobilienunternehmens zu Restrukturierungsmöglichkeiten und zur Durchführung einer grenzüberschreitenden Verschmelzung</li><li>Steuerliche Beratung im Zusammenhang mit der Errichtung von Mitarbeiterbeteiligungsprogrammen</li></ul>

Jenny Broekmann-Friese

Senior Associate

Lloyd W. Aubry, Jr. is a member of our Employment and Labor Group. Lloyd’s practice encompasses all aspects of employment and labor law, including litigation and counseling. He represents public and private clients in a variety of matters relating to wage and hour law, employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, safety and health issues, and National Labor Relations Act issues.Lloyd represents clients before administrative agencies and in state and federal courts. A significant part of his practice involves providing expert testimony and consulting on issues relating to the Department of Industrial Relations. In this capacity, he has assisted both employers and employees.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Lloyd served as the Director of the California Department of Industrial Relations, a cabinet level position, from 1991 to 1997. During his tenure as Director, the department successfully updated wage and hour regulations, including elimination of the daily overtime rule; reformed the state’s workers’ compensation laws resulting in a $4 billion decrease in premiums; and modernized the prevailing wage regulations. Also during his term as Director, Lloyd served as President of the National Association of Government Labor Officials, a national organization of state labor commissioners, secretaries, and directors.From 1989 to 1991, Lloyd practiced labor law in San Francisco, and from 1985 to 1989, he served as the State Labor Commissioner. In this position he headed the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and was responsible for enforcing and interpreting wage and hour law, prevailing wage law, various retaliation statutes, and a number of licensing provisions. From 1981 to 1984, he served as a special assistant and counsel to the U.S. Secretary of Labor and to the Assistant Secretary for Policy, advising them on legal and policy issues. Shortly after, he was appointed by President Reagan as a member of the Commission on Agricultural Workers, a study commission created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act.Lloyd received his J.D. in 1975 from UCLA Law School and his B.A. in 1972 from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction). He is a frequent lecturer and author on employment law matters and is the author of the California Wage and Hour Guide, published by the Employers’ Group.

Lloyd Aubry

Mike advises on U.S. and international mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions, including “going private” and other related-party transactions. He has advised companies, boards, and special committees, as well as investment banks, in both negotiated and contested transactions. He works with clients across a variety of industries, including in the technology, software, telecommunications, agtech, consumer, and healthcare/life sciences sectors.Mike has been ranked in numerous publications including Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and Best Lawyers in America. Clients in The Legal 500 describe Mike as “a very seasoned M&A lawyer with a depth of technical expertise.” He has been recognized for M&A by Best Lawyers in America every year since 2013, and in 2021 the publication named him a “Lawyer of the Year” for M&A. He has also been recognized in Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who of Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyers.Before moving to San Francisco, he worked in the firm’s Tokyo office for four years. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, he worked at a Japanese law firm for two years, concentrating on cross–border transactions. He serves on the board of directors of the Japan Society of Northern California.Mike is the chair of the American Bar Association’s M&A Committee, where he also served as co-editor of the Model Tender Offer Agreement, on the editorial board for the Model Public Company Merger Agreement, and as the editor of the Annual Survey of M&A Cases. He also has served on M&A advisory boards, such as the Law360 M&A editorial board and the Thomson Reuters Accelus Business Law Partner advisory board. He is also a member of our global Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) steering committee. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and speaks regularly on M&A and related topics. He leads efforts around the firm’s annual Key M&A Trends report, recognized as a “Top Read Article” by JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards.

Michael G. O'Bryan

Robert May is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department. His practice focuses on M&A litigation, corporate governance disputes, and securities litigation. Robert has more than fifteen years of experience representing clients in a broad range of industries including technology, financial services, and pharmaceuticals.Robert’s experience includes defending actions challenging corporate transactions on behalf of both targets and acquirers, including litigating motions for preliminary injunctions seeking to delay or prevent stockholder votes. He has significant experience defending clients in stockholder class actions brought under the federal securities laws, and responding to regulatory and criminal investigations. Robert’s practice also focuses on breach of fiduciary duty claims, as well as counseling companies and their directors and officers in governance disputes. Robert has particular experience effectively managing multi-forum matters to limit exposure and cost to his clients and navigating insurance issues in matters covered by directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies.Before joining Morrison Foerster, Robert worked for six years in the New York office of another international law firm where he represented a variety of financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, technology companies, and other multinational corporations in securities litigation, antitrust litigation, and regulatory enforcement matters. Robert also worked for one year as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert P. Patterson Jr., U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.Robert received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, a managing editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, and a recipient of the Jane Marks Murphy prize for achievement in clinical offerings. Robert earned his B.A., with honors and distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.