2024 DIVERSITY DATABASE UNDERWRITER Fenwick

Known for its innovative work with technology and life sciences companies, Fenwick & West is home to nearly 600 attorneys in seven U.S. offices in major tech hubs, including Silicon Valley, Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

The Founding

In 1972, Fenwick was founded on a belief that technology and scientific innovation would fundamentally reshape the world. Designed to grow alongside innovators, Fenwick has partnered with early technology leaders, from Cisco and Intuit to today’s builders at Coinbase, that have turned ideas into industries.

Innovators in Tech and Life Sciences

Fenwick represents more than 1,600 venture capital-backed companies, of which more than 100 are unicorns (companies valued at $1 billion or more), and more than 350 public companies worldwide. Fenwick counsels clients in advanced transportation and robotics, AI and machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, climatetech, consumer goods and retail, digital media and entertainment, defense innovation, fintech, games, healthtech, insurtech, life sciences, semiconductors, software, and space and aerotech.

A top-five firm in Vault’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital rankings, Fenwick handles some of the largest venture capital financings, including those for CoreWeave, Devoted Health, Formation Bio, Impulse Space, Mainspring Energy, and Wonder. Notably, Fenwick advised Databricks on more than $15 billion in funding over multiple rounds.

For over a decade, Fenwick has been a Vault Best Law Firm for Intellectual Property (IP), representing cutting-edge companies, such as Amazon, Day One Biopharmaceuticals, Instacart, Intuit, Meta Reality Labs, Niantic, and Twin Health, in important prosecution and transactional matters. Fenwick’s litigation practice has achieved victories for Amazon; precedent-setting verdicts for Lashify and Meril Life Sciences; and successes for Docusign, GoPro, Intuit, Loxo Oncology, Netflix, Peloton, Interactive, GoPro, Netflix, Loxo Oncology, and Yuga Labs.

The firm’s M&A practice has consistently earned national recognition, handling significant domestic and international transactions, including groundbreaking matters and serial acquisition programs for high-profile companies such as Cisco, Etsy, Informatica, Niantic, Stripe, and Wonder. The firm represented Wiz in its $32 billion acquisition by Google, the highest price ever paid for a private technology company at the time. Fenwick’s capital markets practice has supported numerous notable technology and life sciences clients going public, including BitGo, Coinbase, Figma, Wealthfront, BitGo, Maze Therapeutics, and BioAge Labs. 

The firm’s tax group advises on complex international, technology‑driven, and high‑value transactions, guiding clients such as Paramount Global and Univision on matters of significant scale and complexity, including transfer pricing, dispute resolution, and cross‑border structuring. It works closely with regional counsel to support clients’ strategic tax planning on a global scale.

Independent but Not Alone

Fenwick’s free market system enables associates to drive their own careers by seeking out the work that most interests them within their practice group and across multiple offices. The firm prides itself on encouraging associates to play an active role in establishing their careers and shaping their own work experiences. Matters are staffed across offices, allowing associates to work with teams firmwide.

This autonomy is not without support. Each associate has a dedicated practice management professional who serves as a trusted advisor, helping them find the right assignments and balance their workload to achieve their career goals.

• Incorporated Apple Computer in 1976 and pioneered the first shrink-wrap license agreement that same year.
• Successfully defended Amazon’s 1-Click patent (2002), a mission-critical victory in the early years of the online retailer.
• Guided Facebook in its seminal initial public offering (2012) and its record-setting $1 billion acquisition of Instagram (2012) and advised WhatsApp on its $19 billion sale to Facebook (2014).
• Represented Coinbase in a first-of-its-kind public listing on Nasdaq, valued at opening trade at $99 billion (2021).

• National Public Service Award, 2026—American Bar Association
• Dealmakers of the Year, 2026—The American Lawyer
• M&A Firm of the Year, Venture Capital Firm of the Year, and Impact Deal of the Year, 2025—LMG Life Sciences
• Mansfield Rule 2024-2025 Certification Plus, 2025—Diversity Lab
• Practice Group of the Year for Life Sciences and Technology, 2024—Law360