Karen A. Dewis is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. She is head of the Washington, D.C. Corporate practice, is co-head of the Firm’s Global M&A/Private Equity Affinity Group, has served on the Firm’s Executive Committee and currently serves on the Firm’s Management Committee. Karen represents business enterprises of all sizes in corporate and securities law matters, concentrating her practice on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and compliance, private equity investments, strategic alliances and general corporate matters. Her clients include numerous Fortune 100 and 500 companies and financial institutions. She has extensive experience in the financial services, energy/commodities, healthcare and general industrial sectors.
Karen advises both public and private companies in merger and acquisition transactions ranging from domestic mid-market transactions to multi-billion dollar transactions involving multiple jurisdictions. She also represents both issuers and underwriters in connection with all types of securities offerings ranging from initial public offerings of common stock to billion dollar public offerings of investment grade debt. Karen also advises large multi-national companies on complex international restructuring and separation/spin-off transactions. For example, she was the lead M&A lawyer on the spin-off of Tyco Electronics and Covidien from Tyco International, which involved a complex separation of heavily integrated businesses and a novel trademark joint venture.
In addition, Karen regularly counsels clients on corporate governance, executive compensation and securities law compliance matters including stock exchange rules, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related regulations, and other state corporate and securities laws issues.
Karen has been recognized by Chambers USA as a leader in the field of Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions and by SmartCEO Magazine as one of the Legal Elite in the Washington, D.C., area.
Karen is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars.
Education
- University of Toronto Faculty of Law, LL.B., 1988
- Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. (Securities Regulation), 1991
- University of California-Los Angeles, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1984
