Morrison Foerster Elects 18 Partners

NEW YORK (January 5, 2023) – Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce the election of 18 lawyers to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2023. The class of 2023 includes lawyers from 11 practice groups across seven offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

“I am thrilled to welcome this exceptional group of lawyers to the partnership,” said Eric McCrath, chair of Morrison Foerster. “Each of them has demonstrated a strong sense of ownership, deep sector knowledge, and an unwavering commitment to serving our clients across the firm’s global platform. They are all dedicated to their colleagues, our communities, and further enhancing the firm’s culture and values. I look forward to their contributions and achievements in the years to come.”

The following lawyers have been elected partners:

• Patrick Barrett, a member of the Transactions Department and the Mergers + Acquisitions Group, is based in London. He advises on a wide range of cross-border M&A, joint ventures, venture capital, and private equity matters, with broad experience in corporate advisory matters. Barrett regularly represents leading strategic and financial clients in their most complex acquisitions, investments, divestitures, and multijurisdictional transactions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and North America. He has previously practiced in Tokyo and Berlin. Barrett received his J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota Law School/Carlson School of Management and his B.A. from Northeastern University. He also attended Stanford University’s Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies in Yokohama, Japan.

• Brigid DeCoursey Bondoc, a member of the Litigation Department and the FDA + Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance Group, is based in Washington, D.C. Bondoc is a food, drug, and medical device lawyer who counsels life sciences companies on a wide range of U.S. Food & Drug Administration pre- and post-market regulatory issues. She has deep knowledge and experience in the evolving fields of digital health and regulation of in vitro diagnostics, as well as rare experience in radiation-emitting electronic products that are regulated by FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. Bondoc has advised innovative product developers and manufacturers on key threshold FDA regulatory questions, and regularly advises established life sciences companies on issues such as clinical trials regulation, product approvals and clearances, advertising and promotional claims, and adverse event reporting obligations. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School and her B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Tulsa.
• Melissa Crespo, a member of the Litigation Department and the Privacy + Data Security Group, is based in Washington, D.C. Crespo counsels clients on a wide range of challenging privacy compliance and data security matters with a focus on the healthcare sector. She regularly helps clients develop and implement privacy compliance programs and advises companies on managing risk in connection with cutting-edge technologies and data initiatives. Crespo has successfully defended clients in numerous privacy-related federal and state investigations, including by the HHS Office for Civil Rights and state attorneys general. Crespo earned her J.D., cum laude, from Howard University School of Law and her B.S.B.A. from the University of Central Florida.

• Shaelyn Dawson, a member of the Litigation Department and the Patent Litigation Group, is based in San Francisco. Dawson represents clients in technical and high-stakes litigation, focusing primarily on patent, copyright, and trade secret cases in the electronics, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical industries. She has experience in all phases of litigation, and has coordinated large-scale fact and expert discovery, taken and defended dozens of fact and expert depositions, drafted and argued motions in multiparty litigation in federal courts across the country, and been a key member of six trial teams, where she questioned fact and expert witnesses. Dawson also maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on Section 1983 civil rights cases. She received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law, her LL.M. from New York University School of Law, and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She clerked for Judge Wallach on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for two years.

• Aya Eguchi is a member of the Transactions Department and the Technology Transactions Group. She advises clients on a wide array of transactional matters involving the acquisition, development, licensing, and transfer of intellectual property, including the structuring and negotiating of joint ventures and strategic alliances, development and distribution agreements, patent and software licenses, and intellectual property components of mergers and acquisitions, and is a native speaker of Japanese. Eguchi earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School and her B.S.E. in both biomedical engineering and electrical engineering from Duke University.

• Katherine Erbeznik, a member of the Transactions Department and the U.S. Tax Group, is based in New York. Erbeznik represents clients with U.S. federal income tax considerations in connection with domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, reorganizations, and private investment fund formation and structuring. She also advises clients on foreign and domestic capital markets transactions, tax controversy matters, and a broad range of general corporate tax planning matters. Erbeznik earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University, and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

• Tomoki Kodama is a member of the Litigation Department, based in Tokyo. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation matters and disputes. Kodama received his LL.B. from Keio University and his J.D. from Keio Law School, and he completed his training at the Legal Training and Research Institute of the Supreme Court of Japan. He also earned an LL.M. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. He is a bengoshi admitted to practice in Japan as well as in New York, and a member of the Dai-ni Tokyo Bar Association.

• Lily Li, a member of the Litigation Department and the Patent Litigation Group, is based in Palo Alto. Li has represented companies in high-stakes patent litigation, bet-the-company competitor cases, non-practicing entity assertions, trade secret cases, and licensing disputes. She has litigated before state and federal courts, the International Trade Commission, international arbitration tribunals, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on a wide range of technologies, including computer hardware and software, semiconductors, consumer electronics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. Li received her J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law, her M.S. from Ohio University, and her B.S. from Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

• Per Lindberg, a member of the Transactions Department and the Finance & Projects Group, is based in Singapore. Lindberg advises developers, investors, and lenders on all aspects of energy and infrastructure deals, including project development, financing and acquisitions and divestments. While he has worked across a broad spectrum of energy and infrastructure sectors, he has particular experience in the renewable energy, LNG regasification, petrochemicals, mining, telecommunications, and rail sectors. Lindberg has worked on many first-of-their-kind and market-leading energy and infrastructure projects around the globe, but predominantly in Asia. Lindberg is listed as a “Rising Star” by Asian Legal Business, “Up and Coming” by Chambers Asia-Pacific, and a “Recommended Lawyer” by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific. He received his L.P.C. from the College of Law of England and Wales and his LL.B. from the University of Hull.

• Eric Min, a member of the Transactions Department, the Finance & Projects and Private Equity Investments + Buyouts Groups, is based in San Francisco. Min advises private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies, and other public and private companies, in a variety of complex U.S. and cross-border financing transactions, including leveraged and acquisition finance, syndicated lending, asset and cash-flow-based lending, and warehouse facilities. He represents clients in transactions covering a variety of industries, including fintech, healthcare, business services, and industrials. Min received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. in economics from Seoul National University.

• Yohei Nakagawa, a member of the Transactions Department and the Mergers + Acquisitions Group, is based in Tokyo. His practice focuses on cross-border M&A, strategic alliances, and international joint ventures covering a range of industries, including technology, life sciences, and media. He is a native speaker of Japanese, a registered foreign lawyer in Japan (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi) and a member of the Tokyo Bar Association. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, and his B.S. from New York University.

• Sandeep Nandivada, a member of the Litigation Department and the Government Contracts + Public Procurement Group, is based in Washington, D.C. His civil litigation practice focuses on bid protests before the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Court of Federal Claims, and the Small Business Administration Office of Hearings and Appeals, as well as contract claims and subcontract disputes. Nandivada also has extensive experience conducting internal investigations with False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Act, Procurement Integrity Act, and suspension and debarment implications. He has significant experience in cybersecurity matters, including data breach response and remediation, and regularly advises clients on Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement compliance issues, including matters related to conflicts of interest, revolving door restrictions, defective pricing, and commercial item contracting. Nandivada earned his J.D., with honors, from the George Washington University Law School and his B.A. from Cornell University.

• Lauren Navarro, a member of the Litigation Department and the Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White-Collar Defense Group, is based in San Francisco. Her practice focuses on complex white-collar criminal matters, including defending clients facing U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement proceedings and conducting internal investigations. She regularly counsels clients on compliance issues including anti-corruption policies and procedures, global risk assessments, training, third-party due diligence, and the development of effective, risk-based compliance programs. She also has experience in-house after being seconded as an investigator in the Ethics & Integrity group at a large, multinational software company. She received her J.D., with pro bono distinction, from Stanford Law School and her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

• Matt O’Donnell, a member of the Transactions Department and the Mergers + Acquisitions Group, is based in San Francisco. His practice focuses on corporate transactions and other general corporate matters, with an emphasis on U.S. and international/cross-border M&A and other strategic transactions. Prior to joining Morrison Foerster’s San Francisco office, O’Donnell was an associate in the firm’s Tokyo office. He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was an editor of the Columbia Law School Science and Technology Law Review, and his B.A. from Williams College.

• Jim Ryan, a member of the Transactions Department and the Emerging Companies + Venture Capital Group, is based in Palo Alto. His practice focuses on domestic and cross-border corporate and securities matters, including venture capital and private equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, securities compliance, and corporate governance. Ryan represents entrepreneurs, startups and emerging companies as outside general counsel, venture capital and private equity investors, and financial and strategic acquirers across the technology, media, telecommunications, and life sciences industries. His clients operate in a variety of sectors including machine learning and artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity, data analytics, fintech, e-commerce, gaming, life sciences, and medical devices. Ryan earned his J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

• Chris Spalding, a member of the Transactions Department and the Real Estate Group, is based in Tokyo. His practice focuses on the financing, acquisition, disposition, and development of real estate assets, with particular experience in acting on non-recourse financings for international institutional investors and lenders in relation to commercial and residential real estate projects, solar power projects, and data centers. Spalding is a registered foreign lawyer in Japan (Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi) and a member of the Tokyo Bar Association. He received his LL.B. and B.A. from the University of Queensland, Australia, and is admitted to practice in Queensland and New York.

• David Wiener, a member of the Litigation Department and the Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White-Collar Defense Group, is based in San Francisco. His practice focuses on the representation of public companies and their officers and directors in securities fraud class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, and other high-stakes litigation. He also regularly advises boards and management on shareholder demands, disclosure issues, and governance matters. He has represented clients across a range of industries including technology, social media, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare, and has litigated at the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts throughout California and the Delaware Court of Chancery. Wiener received his J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

• Al Williams, a member of the Transactions Department and the Real Estate Group, is based in New York. Williams represents various stakeholders in all phases of commercial real estate transactions across a wide range of asset classes – both performing and non-performing – located throughout the United States. In particular, he advises financial institutions originating, investing in, working out, and restructuring highly complex and structured loans secured directly or indirectly by large-scale commercial real estate assets, as well as credit facilities to private equity funds, debt funds, and REITs. In addition, Williams counsels developers, owners, and operators in the acquisition, financing, development, operation, and ultimate disposition of commercial real estate projects and related business strategies. He also represents domestic and foreign investors in connection with strategic joint ventures, on both a deal-by-deal and programmatic basis. Williams received his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and his B.A. from Siena College.