Peter N. Townshend
Partner
San Diego
Silicon Valley
T: +1 858 720 3310
+1 650 815 7552 (SV)
F: +1 858 720 7800
+1 650 815 7401(SV)
ptownshend@mwe.com
Peter N. Townshend is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s San Diego and Silicon Valley offices. Peter is a member of the Firm’s Corporate Department and co-chair of the Firm’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practice group.
Peter has extensive experience representing emerging growth technology companies and venture capital investors in structuring a wide variety of transactions. His practice includes venture capital, angel and other private equity financings; convertible note and other debt financings; mergers and acquisitions; public offerings; corporate governance; distribution, development, manufacturing, co-marketing, licensing and other commercial transactions; stock option plans and executive compensation; and venture capital and private equity fund formation. Peter has worked in a diverse array of industries including social networking, ecommerce, online advertising, online gaming, software and hardware, telecommunications, medical devices, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
In the Internet, software, telecommunications and computer hardware industries, Peter has represented companies such as AimTV (sold to NetZero), Alliance Semiconductor, BrightRoll, BuyMedia, Ebay, Interwoven, Keynote Systems, Meebo, Netranscend (sold to Mediaplex), Plaxo (sold to Comcast), RichRelevance, smartshop.com (sold to CNet) and Wherify Wireless.
In the biotechnology and medical devices industries, he has represented companies such as Adeza BioMedical, Appriva Medical (sold to ev3), Atrionix, Cepheid, Chestnut Medical Technologies (sold to ev3), ConforMIS and Imaging Therapeutics.
Peter has advised venture funds and angel networks such as Alliance Ventures, Burrill & Co., The Cambria Group, Frazier & Co., Kline Hawkes, Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund, RWI Group, San Diego Tech Coast Angels, Sequoia Capital and US Venture Partners making investments in a variety of high technology and life science companies.
Peter is a member of Tech Coast Angels, San Diego CONNECT and a regular lecturer for the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurship at U.C. San Diego. Peter is a recognized expert on issues relating to startups, mergers and acquisitions, and angel and venture capital. He has lectured at U.C. Berkeley, U.C. San Diego, Santa Clara University, and San Jose State University, and he has been quoted by Reuters and in the San Francisco Chronicle, TheDeal.com and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Peter is a member of the California State Bar.
Education
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, J.D.
- University of California-Berkeley, M.B.A.
- Yale University, B.A.
