Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Hires Top M&A and Corporate Governance Attorney

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, today announced that Warren S. de Wied has become a partner at the firm. A former managing director in the mergers and acquisitions group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and, previously, co-leader of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Fried Frank, de Wied will be based in the firm's New York office.

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"With his remarkable corporate transactional experience, Warren brings to the firm top-level M&A, corporate governance, and anti-takeover expertise across a broad spectrum of industries," said Chairman Larry Sonsini. "He will be a terrific addition to our already strong mergers and acquisitions team and an invaluable asset as we further expand our focus on serving business enterprises across the country, including large public-company clients in the East Coast market."

Prior to joining the firm, de Wied was managing director in the mergers and acquisitions group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he served as the head of the takeover defense and shareholder activist response practice. In this role, he advised clients on takeover defense, contested bids, and all aspects of activist shareholder initiatives, as well as corporate governance and investor relations matters. Previously, he had been a corporate attorney for nearly two decades at Fried Frank, where he served as co-head of the mergers and acquisitions practice. His transactional experience has encompassed a wide range of industries, including consumer products, energy and natural resources, financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, industrial and manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, real estate, transportation, technology, and telecommunications. In addition, de Wied served as general counsel of FirstMark Communications Europe, a broadband Internet network provider. He received his J.D. in 1987 from the UC Berkeley School of Law, where he graduated Order of the Coif, and received his master's and bachelor's degrees from Cambridge University's Trinity College in 1987 and 1983, respectively.

About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's broad range of services and legal disciplines is focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities class action litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With long-standing roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin, New York, Palo Alto, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C. For additional information, please visit www.wsgr.com.