Fenwick & West

Fenwick & West LLP

Headquarters	Silicon Valley Center Mountain View, California
No. of offices	7
No. of attorneys	478
Major practice areas	Corporate, intellectual property, litigation, regulatory, tax [1]
Key people	Richard Dickson, Chairman Dawn Belt, Managing Partner
Revenue	$792,744,000 (2024) [1]
Date founded	1972
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website	www.fenwick.com

Fenwick & West LLP, now known as Fenwick ^[2] , is a law firm of more than 500 attorneys ^[3] with offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, Santa Monica, Washington, DC, and Boston. The firm focuses on the technology and life sciences sectors, advising clients at all stages from startups to public companies. ^[4] The firm's practice areas include capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, patent, commercial litigation, and regulatory counseling. ^[2]

History

In 1972, William Fenwick, a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, formed Fenwick & West with three partners while an associate at Cleary Gottlieb. ^[5] Early clients included Pioneer Electronics and Apple Computer, which the firm incorporated in 1974. ^[6]

In 1976, the firm wrote the first shrinkwrap (contract law) license agreement, where use of a product was considered acceptance of the contracts that came with it. ^[7] In the '80s and '90s, the firm established the first copyright for a graphic interface, one of the first business method software patents, and the first cleanroom protocols to protect software Intellectual property. ^[8]

Fenwick also advised on early technology initial public offerings, including EBay's ^[9] IPO in 1998 and Oracle's IPO ^[10] in 1986. ^[11]

In 2024, the firm laid off associates and staff as venture activity slowed after a boom in the preceding years. ^[12]

In 2025, Fenwick signed an amicus brief supporting law firm Perkins Coie after it and other law firms were targeted by the Trump administration. ^[13]

Recognition

Fenwick & West ranked 69th on the 2025 AmLaw 100 list of the largest law firms by revenue. ^[14]

Chambers and Partners recognized Fenwick's practice areas in startups, capital markets, artificial intelligence, and intellectual property. ^[15]

Milestones

2022

• Fenwick represented The New York Times in its acquisition of the online word game Wordle. ^[16]
• Fenwick's former client FTX collapses. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20]}
• Fenwick represented Figma in its attempted acquisition by Adobe ^[21]
• Fenwick represented Clif Bar & Company in its acquisition by Mondelēz International for $2.9 billion. ^[22]

2021

• Fenwick represented Coinbase on its direct listing on Nasdaq, the company later was charged by the SEC for unregistered securities. ^{[23] [24]}
• Fenwick aids fraudulent cryptocurrency Tron and its founder Justin Sun, who later was charged with fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. ^{[25] [26]}

2020

• Represented Amazon in the E.D. Texas, where a jury found that Amazon's Alexa-powered smart home devices did not infringe patents held by Innovation Sciences and that these patents were invalid ^[27]
• Represented OSIsoft, in real-time industrial data software and services, in its $5B acquisition by AVEVA, in industrial software. ^[28]

2019

• Representing Loxo Oncology, with offices in South San Francisco, in its $8B cash acquisition by Eli Lilly. ^{[29] [30]}

2014

• Fenwick represents WhatsApp in its $16 billion acquisition by Facebook ^[31]

2013

• Fenwick announces a new version of the Series Seed Documents on GitHub, curated by Fenwick Partner Ted Wang. ^[32]

2012

• Fenwick represents Facebook in its $1 billion purchase of Instagram ^[33]
• Fenwick represents Facebook in its IPO, the largest Internet IPO in U.S. history ^{[34] [35]}

2011

• Pro bono counsel to Democratic Underground in Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC , which is widely regarded as a legal victory against copyright trolls ^{[36] [37] [38] [39]} and called Copyright Case of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property ^[40]

2000

• Handles VeriSign's $21 billion acquisition of Network Solutions, the largest internet merger in history ^{[4] [41]}

Clients

• Figma: Led Figma in its attempted acquisition by Adobe. ^[21]
• The New York Times: Represented in its acquisition of Wordle. ^[16]
• Clif Bar & Company: Led the food and beverage company in its acquisition by Mondelēz International. ^[17]
• Facebook: In 2012, Fenwick & West represented Facebook in the largest tech IPO in history. ^{[34] [35]} Fenwick also advised Facebook on its acquisition of Instagram in 2013. ^[33]
• FTX: Previously served as outside counsel to the former cryptocurrency exchange, FTX. ^{[42] [17]}

References

1. "Fenwick & West".
2. "Homepage". Fenwick. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
3. "Fenwick". Lateral Hub. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
4. Stone, Brad (April 7, 2011). "Why Techies Like to Friend Fenwick & West - BusinessWeek". Bloomberg Businessweek . Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
5. "Silicon Valley law firm pioneer Bill Fenwick dies at 83". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
6. "William A. Fenwick '67, founding partner of Fenwick, dead at 83". Vanderbilt Law School. October 8, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
7. Simpson, Dave (October 8, 2021). "Fenwick & West Co-Founder Bill Fenwick Dies At 83" . Law360.
8. "Fenwick Partners Sally Abel and David Hayes Named To National Law Journal List of Top 50 IP Trailblazers & Pioneers". PR Newswire. October 30, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2026.
9. EBay (September 24, 1998). "EBay IPO filing with SEC" . Retrieved February 8, 2026.
10. "Profile: Fenwick & West". Forbes. October 2, 2019. Retrieved February 28, 2026.
11. "Investor Relations - FAQ". Oracle. Retrieved Fenruary 28, 2026.{{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
12. Tribe, Meghan (February 15, 2024). "Fenwick Layoffs Show Pressure on Firms Tied to Silicon Valley". Bloomberg Law.
13. "Which firms, legal groups, law profs signed briefs supporting Perkins Coie in challenge to punitive Trump order?". ABA Journal. Debra Cassens Weiss. Archived from the original on July 12, 2025. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
14. "Fenwick | Rankings, Lawyers & Practice Areas | Law.com". www.law.com. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
15. "Fenwick". chambers.com. Retrieved December 11, 2025.
16. Thomas, David (February 1, 2022). "Meet the Wordle player who helped sell the game to the New York Times". Reuters. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
17. "North Dimension was central to misappropriation of FTX customers' cash, regulators say". NBC News. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
18. "Crypto Firm FTX.US Nabs New Top Lawyer From Sullivan & Cromwell". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
19. "FTX's ex-chief regulatory officer tied to online poker scandal". November 20, 2022.
20. "Troubles at Sam Bankman-Fried's Alameda Began Well Before Crypto Crash". WSJ. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
21. "Wachtell and Fenwick Lead $20B Adobe-Figma Combination". The Recorder. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
22. MarketScreener. "Mondelez International, Inc. completed the acquisition of Clif Bar & Company. | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
23. "SEC.gov | Coinbase, Inc. and Coinbase Global, Inc". www.sec.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
24. "Fenwick & West advises Coinbase on landmark crypto listing". www.globallegalpost.com. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
25. "SEC.gov | SEC Charges Crypto Entrepreneur Justin Sun and His Companies for Fraud and Other Securities Law Violations". www.sec.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
26. Harland-Dunaway, Christopher (March 9, 2022). "The many escapes of Justin Sun". The Verge. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
27. "Amazon Alexa Devices Didn't Infringe Patents, Jury Finds - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
28. "Acquisition of OSIsoft, LLC – Company Announcement - FT.com". markets.ft.com. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
29. "Weil, Fenwick Steer Eli Lilly's $8B Loxo Oncology Buy - Law360". www.law360.com.
30. "Eli Lilly to buy Loxo Oncology for $8bn in cancer drug push". Financial Times. January 7, 2019.
31. Rosen, Ellen (February 20, 2014). "Weil Advises Facebook as WhatsApp Uses Fenwick: Business of Law". Bloomberg. Bloomberg LP. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
32. Kolodny, Lora (June 3, 2013). "Seeking Seed Funding? Open-Source Forms Might Cut Legal Bill". VentureWire. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
33. "Facebook To Buy Instagram for $1 Billion in Biggest Acquisition Yet". AmLaw Daily. April 9, 2012. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
34. "Fenwick & West and Simpson Thacher lead as Facebook takes US listing".
35. "Facebook Will Have The Biggest Tech IPO Ever, Raising $16 Billion With $38 Share Price". TechCrunch. May 17, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
36. Masnick, Mike, Judge Rules That Righthaven Lawsuit Was A Sham; Threatens Sanctions. June 14, 2011.
37. Green, Steve, Ruling that Righthaven misled court likely to be felt in other cases. July 14, 2011.
38. Anderson, Nate, Righthaven learning it can't change the facts after it sues. July 14, 2011
39. Opsahl, Kurt, Righthaven Ordered to Pay $5,000 in Sanctions for Its Misrepresentations to Court. July 15, 2011.
40. "North America Awards winners revealed". Managing Intellectual Property. March 29, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
41. "Extending Their Domain", ALM Media, LLC , New York City, April 2000.
42. "Sullivan & Cromwell, Fenwick & West Trim FTX Relationship From Sites". The American Lawyer. Retrieved March 10, 2023.