With more than 1,100 lawyers in 17 offices, Morrison & Foerster is a leading global law firm dedicated to delivering business-oriented results to clients across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Dynamic technology and life sciences companies, large financial institutions, leading consumer product companies, and other industry leaders come to Morrison & Foerster for knowledge, innovation, and business aptitude.
Business Restructuring + Insolvency
MoFo advises debtors, creditors’ committees, secured lenders, and other participants in the distressed markets on the issues that arise in relation to corporate distress, including some of the most significant bankruptcy cases in recent history. The firm is a market leader in creditors’ committee representation, cross-border insolvencies, distressed real estate, the restructuring of financial institutions, insolvencies involving key intellectual property, and hedge fund failures.
Capital Markets
We are a leading firm for issuer and underwriter representations for IPOs; offerings of debt and equity; hybrid, preferred, and structured securities; private placements; PIPEs; 144A/Reg. S offerings; continuous issuance programs; and derivatives.
Emerging Companies + Venture Capital
We have a leading start-up, emerging company, venture capital, and corporate venture practice. We assist companies and their investors at every stage of the business lifecycle – from initial formation and financings, to late-stage financings and initial public offerings. We have assisted our clients in raising, or deploying, more than $60 billion of venture capital in the past five years.
Financial Services
MoFo is one of the leading banking and financial services law firms in the world, advising domestic and foreign banks, investment banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, mortgage bankers, investment management companies and investment advisers, money transmitters, and other financial services companies on regulatory, transactional, and litigation matters.
Global Risk + Crisis Management
MoFo’s Global Risk + Crisis Management Group provides critical advice for anticipating and responding to any crisis. From cyber breach to product recalls, our lawyers have decades of collective experience, across disciplines and industries, successfully guiding clients through crises at the highest levels. Our team helps companies prepare for and detect crises well before they ever occur. Should our clients ever face a crisis, our response is immediate and strategic; we develop communication, litigation, and regulatory plans, ensuring that our clients’ businesses and brands continue to thrive.
Government Contracts + Public Procurement
Our government contracts practice is one of the largest of its kind, with more than 25 lawyers exclusively dedicated to the practice, including over 12 with U.S. government security clearances. We counsel U.S. and foreign businesses of all sizes and types – from Fortune 50 companies to small businesses and private equity firms – on the full range of legal, regulatory, and compliance issues that they may encounter when they do business with government entities.
Intellectual Property
MoFo is a global IP powerhouse, known for developing novel solutions for protecting and enforcing some of the most prized IP in the world. We represent pioneering companies and global megabrands in high-stakes, complex, and bet-the-company patent, copyright, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, and licensing matters. Our team includes 65 PhDs and more than 100 advanced degrees in scientific and technical disciplines, which inform our abilities to craft customized IP strategies and deliver victories both in and out of the courtroom.
Investigations + White Collar Defense
Our team has experience handling internal and government investigations on six continents and in more than 65 countries, bringing significant cross-border experience to compliance and enforcement matters worldwide. We provide advice on the multitude of laws regulating international business transactions including the FCPA; the UK Bribery Act; Sarbanes-Oxley; U.S. federal securities laws; the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act; international trade, export control, and sanctions laws; and Anti-Money Laundering/Bank Secrecy Act. We have successfully represented many clients in obtaining favorable settlements or other resolutions – often ending with government enforcement bodies closing their investigations with no action taken.
Litigation
With more than 450 litigators, we are renowned for our success in high-stakes, complex cases – representing clients in all stages of federal and state litigation, from grand jury to trial through to appeal. We drive strategies to position our clients for the best possible outcome, whether that is winning at trial or resolving a matter quickly. MoFo has 120 lawyers with first-chair trial experience, as well as top appellate practitioners. Our team includes leading attorneys in consumer and false advertising, product liability, environmental, and employment litigation, securities litigation, financial services litigation, white-collar criminal defense, antitrust and unfair competition matters, and international arbitration. We are a destination firm for class actions, no matter the subject area, and have extensive experience handling multidistrict litigation matters for our clients. We have an excellent track record in these matters and make sure our clients’ positions are defended rigorously and aggressively.
Mergers + Acquisitions
MoFo has a leading global M&A practice. The depth and breadth of the practice, including a strong focus on cross-border transactions, reflects the dynamic nature of our clients, which include Fortune 500 companies, private equity sponsors, investment banks, and privately held companies. Our representation includes traditional M&A transactions for both private and public companies, serial acquisition programs, proxy contests, hostile and contested transactions, and special committee and board counseling.
National Security, Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Export Controls + Sanctions
The increased focus on international terrorism and non-proliferation requires companies to be vigilant about sanctions and export control laws. MoFo’s National Security, CFIUS, Export Controls + Sanctions Group helps clients navigate the myriad of complex and constantly changing laws. We regularly advise clients on the national security implications of proposed transactions involving non-U.S. companies, as well as on CFIUS reviews. Our team also provides expertise and guidance to global financial institutions and multinational companies that must comply with the differing and rapidly changing sanctions rules across jurisdictions. In addition, we advise clients on investigations and enforcement actions, issues regarding extraterritorial applicability, and on compliance with U.S. sanctions and trade embargoes under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, as well as those of the European Union and other jurisdictions.
Privacy + Data Security
MoFo’s market-leading Privacy + Data Security Group is a destination for clients – from start-ups to sophisticated global clients alike – seeking advice on every aspect of privacy laws and regulations, as well as incident preparedness and response. The team helps companies fit compliance with evolving data protection laws within the context of a truly global, consistent strategy, and has also served as lead counsel and coordinated all components of clients’ responses to some of the highest-profile data breaches of recent years.
Project Finance
MoFo’s world-class project finance team has extensive experience around the globe advising on some of the largest and most complex project developments and limited recourse financings in the energy and infrastructure sectors. We have experience advising on limited recourse financings involving almost all major international financial institutions, advising in respect of project bonds, Islamic financings, and many key commercial banks. Our holistic, one-stop business solution, coupled with our overarching commitment to delivering success for our clients, makes us the first choice for leading energy and infrastructure companies worldwide.
Real Estate
MoFo is a recognized leader across a broad spectrum of real estate activities, including development deals, acquisitions and dispositions, leases, market-standard and complex financings, and restructurings. Its clients include lenders, developers, equity investors, and real estate investment trusts (REIT).
Social Enterprise and Impact Investing
MoFo is a committed participant in the social enterprise and impact investing space – a position we have championed for more than 20 years. Our team across our corporate, finance, tax, patent, and licensing practices is passionate about solving the world’s biggest problems through creative business models and mission-focused investments. We have long recognized that impact investing and social entrepreneurship have unique legal challenges, as investors, companies, and organizations determine how to embed social and environmental missions into governing documents, investments, and business strategies.
Tax
Morrison & Foerster’s tax practice encompasses federal and international tax law in the context of structuring transactions and business enterprises, tax planning and consulting, and representing clients in tax controversies and litigation. In addition, the firm is highly skilled in related practice areas, such as employee benefits and executive compensation.
