Laird H. Simons III
Partner, Securities Group

Former Chair
Securities Group

Laird Simons was Chair of the Securities Group for 18 years, member of the Executive Committee for eight years and Managing Partner for four years at Fenwick & West LLP. The firm specializes in a full array of services to high technology companies, including Internet companies, computer software and electronics corporations, telecommunications companies, semiconductor manufacturers and medical device and life sciences companies. Laird concentrates his practice in initial public offerings (for both domestic and foreign corporations), follow-on offerings for already public companies and ongoing securities advice and counseling for public companies.

Laird has worked on more than 80 initial public offerings for a wide range of high technology companies, including:

@Home Corporation
Alliance Semiconductor Corporation
Autoweb.com, Inc.
Broadbase Software, Inc.
Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
CardioGenesis Corporation
Cooper & Chyan Technology, Inc.
eBay Inc.
Edify Corporation
Elantec Semiconductor, Inc.
Electronic Arts
ESS Technology, Inc.
Exodus Communications, Inc.
Genelabs Technologies, Inc.
Glu Mobile Inc.
GoRemote Internet Communications, Inc.
Green Dot Corporation
HNC Software, Inc.
Information Storage Devices, Inc. ? Insignia Solutions Inc.
Integrated Systems, Inc.
Infoblox Inc.
Intuit Inc.
Macromedia, Inc.
Macrovision Corporation
NetScreen Technologies, Inc.
Oak Technology, Inc.
Ocular Sciences, Inc.
ONSALE, Inc.
Oracle Systems Corporation
Prism Solutions, Inc.
Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Symantec Corporation
Talarian Corporation
Technology Modeling Associates, Inc.
The 3DO Company
VeriSign, Inc.
VERITAS Software Corporation
Versant Object Technology Corporation

He has also worked on more than 40 follow-on offerings for the above and other companies.

Laird has represented a number of underwriters, including Cowen & Company, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, Deutsche Bank Securities, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, Goldman Sachs & Co., Hambrecht & Quist, J. P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Needham & Company, Piper Jaffray & Co., RBC Capital Markets and Robertson Stephens, in initial public offerings and follow-on offerings for companies such as DemandTec, Omniture, O2Micro, Pixar and SolarWinds.

Laird is a member of the State Bar of California. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in 1970 from Haverford College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. and his M.B.A. with distinction in 1974 from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.

He has co-chaired the Practising Law Institute’s multi-city program on initial public offerings for 20 years and is a regular speaker on a variety of securities topics.

Laird's accolades include:

Silicon Valley “Lawyer of the Year” in Securities/ Capital Markets Law, Best Lawyers, 2013
Top Securities Attorney, Best Lawyers, 2006-2014
Northern California Super Lawyer, Securities and Corporate Finance, 2004, 2006-2013
America's Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA, 2001, 2003-2006
Best Corporate Lawyers in America, Corporate Counsel, 2006
Silicon Valley's Top Lawyers, San Jose Magazine, 2003
One of 12 Dealmakers of the Year, The American Lawyer, 1999