Named a 2024 Law360 “MVP” in Private Equity and a 2022 “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer, Naveed Anwar is a Corporate Partner based in the Firm’s Bay Area offices. Naveed’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, where he represents private equity firms and public and private companies in a variety of domestic and cross-border transactions. He has experience in a broad range of transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, leveraged buyouts, carve-outs, recapitalizations, venture financings, joint ventures, de-SPAC transactions and other complex transactions across a wide variety of sectors.

Naveed’s private equity representations have included KKR, Hellman & Friedman, EQT, Francisco Partners, Blackstone, Silver Lake, Centerbridge, True Wind Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures, Carlyle and Riverwood Capital and their respective portfolio companies, among others. His corporate representations have included Airbnb, Applied Systems, Dell, PPD, McKesson and UKG, among others

Naveed was also recognized as a 2024 “Next Generation Partner” by The Legal 500, 2021 “West Trailblazer” by The American Lawyer, a 2019 Law360 “Rising Star” in Private Equity and included in the Daily Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40” in California in 2019.

A trailblazer in the technology sector and recent American Lawyer “Corporate Attorney of the Year,” Atif Azher is Managing Partner of the Bay Area offices, where he represents clients in a wide range of complex corporate matters, with a focus on M&A and private equity. He is a two-time Law360 “MVP” in Private Equity and was twice named one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in California” by the Daily Journal, which described him as “synonymous with the market’s largest and most complex transactions.” Atif is regularly recognized by The Legal 500 US and Chambers USA for “Private Equity: Buyouts.”

Atif provides sophisticated transactional counsel to public and private companies, investment funds and financial institutions in a variety of domestic and cross-border transactions. He regularly advises on multi-billion-dollar mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and JVs, drawing on his substantial experience across a broad range of industries, including technology, technology-enabled services, software, internet, sports and media, healthcare, fintech, accounting firm M&A, retail and consumer products, infrastructure and real estate. Additionally, he has significant experience guiding SPAC transactions, including advising target companies, SPACs and PIPE investors. 

His corporate representations have included Airbnb, Applied Systems, Cohesity, Dell, Multiplan, PPD and UKG, among others. Atif’s private equity clients have included Apollo, Blackstone, Carlyle, Centerbridge, Francisco Partners, Haveli Investments, Hellman & Friedman, KKR, Riverwood, Silver Lake, Sterling, TCV and True Wind.

Steve Blake is a Litigation Partner in our San Francisco office. Steve focuses on high-stakes shareholder litigation and securities regulatory matters. He regularly advises corporations, financial institutions, funds and their advisors in connection with mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, legal compliance and commercial disputes. Steve also regularly represents entities and individuals before the SEC, FINRA and stock exchanges.

Steve frequently writes and lectures on shareholder litigation, fiduciary duties and issues under the Securities Act, Exchange Act, Investment Company Act and Investment Advisors Act. Steve is the author of the quarterly “Stock Block” column in The Recorder. His recent columns “Along Came SPACs, and Then SPAC Litigation,” “Challenges to Corporate Decision-Making in the Face of Increasingly Polarized Responses to ESG Initiatives,” and “Burgeoning ‘Caremark’ Claims Likely to Drive Stockholder Demands” have been widely read. Steve is Co-Head of the Firm’s Asia Litigation Practice and is also Co-Chair of the Firm’s Knowledge & Innovation Committee.

Recognized as a 2021 Law360 “Rising Star” in Securities, Steve is also recognized by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation as a “Litigation Star,” and was a repeat honoree on their “40 & Under List.” Steve was named among the Daily Journal’s “Leading Commercial Litigators” for 2024. He was selected as part of Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40” in 2022, and by the Daily Journal as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” lawyers in California in 2018. Steve is recognized by Chambers USA in Securities Litigation, by The Legal 500 in both M&A Litigation and Securities Litigation and as a “Rising Star” in Northern California Securities Litigation by Super Lawyers.

Based in the Firm’s Bay Area offices, Bill Brentani is a leading capital markets lawyer whose practice focuses on corporate finance and general securities and corporate matters. Bill regularly works for issuers and underwriters in connection with a broad range of capital market transactions, including initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on equity and preferred stock (including PIPEs) offerings, and debt, equity-linked, high yield and hybrid capital transactions. Bill was named among the 2024 “Top 100 Lawyers” by Daily Journal and a 2021 Healthcare “MVP” by Law360. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer for a number of years by Chambers USA, which describes him as “highly sought after for his expert counsel on transactions in diverse sectors, including healthcare, technology and retail.” Clients laud him as “our go-to person” and a “trusted partner and adviser” and, tellingly, “capable of doing really complex work.” Bill currently serves as Co-Chair of the Firm’s Opinion Committee and is a prior Head of the Firm’s Palo Alto office and a former member of the Firm’s Executive Committee.

Amy Candido is Head of the Firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice. An accomplished trial lawyer, she has secured victories in numerous high-stakes, complex trade secret, patent, and other IP matters across a variety of industries, including the internet, mobile, computer hardware and software, semiconductor, networking, storage, aerospace, gaming and life sciences sectors. Her successes in courts around the country include obtaining a defense jury verdict in a trade secret case seeking over $450 million in damages in the District of Delaware, securing three defense jury verdicts in Eastern District of Texas patent cases collectively seeking more than $1 billion in damages, and winning a $238 million plaintiff’s jury verdict in a complex patent and breach of contract trial over satellite technology in the Southern District of California.

Amy’s trial victories have been recognized by Benchmark Litigation, The National Law Journal, The Recorder, Daily Journal and Managing IP, among others. She was recently named among Daily Journal’s “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers” and “Top Trade Secret Lawyers,” and recognized as a “Recommended” Practitioner in World IP Review’s Global and USA Trade Secrets Rankings. Amy serves on the Steering Committee of the Sedona Conference’s Working Group on Trade Secrets and is a recognized thought leader in the IP space.

Recognized as a 2025 Law360 “Rising Star” in M&A, Fred de Albuquerque is a Partner in the Mergers and Acquisitions Practice based in the Firm’s Bay Area offices, where he represents financial sponsors and public and private companies in mergers and acquisitions, investments, divestitures, carve-outs, joint ventures, recapitalizations and other business transactions. He also regularly counsels clients in connection with general corporate governance and securities law matters. Fred’s representations span a wide range of sectors, including technology, financial services, healthcare, transportation and consumer products. His financial sponsor clients have included, among others, Centerbridge Partners, EQT, Genstar Capital, Hellman & Friedman, KSL Capital Partners, Silver Lake, Technology Crossover Ventures, True Wind Capital and their respective portfolio companies.

Laura Lin, based in the Firm’s San Francisco office, is a Partner in the Litigation Department. Her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes and trials with a particular emphasis on the technology and insurance industries. In 2025, Laura was named among the Daily Journal’s “Leading Commercial Litigators,” recognizing the top attorneys nationwide “you want on your side in a bet-the-company case.”  

Heidi Mayon is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s Bay Area offices and a member of the Capital Markets Practice. She focuses on advising companies, investors and underwriters on a wide range of securities matters, including initial public offerings (IPOs), venture financings, growth equity, follow-on equity, block trades, bought deals, ATM programs, committed lines of equity, spin-offs and transactions by special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). She has extensive experience across numerous industries including technology, healthcare and life sciences, FinTech and payments, marketplaces and retail, energy and clean technology. Heidi also regularly advises public and private companies on reporting obligations, corporate governance and other general corporate matters. Heidi is recognized by Chambers USA where clients describe her as “pragmatic and collaborative” and a “very strong lawyer.”

Based in the Firm’s San Francisco office, Julie Siegel advises public and private companies and private equity firms in connection with mergers and acquisitions, investments, take privates, joint ventures and other significant corporate transactions. She has broad experience across a wide range of industries, including technology and software, financial services and consumer products. Julie’s private equity representations have included Blackstone, Centerbridge and Hellman & Friedman and their respective portfolio companies, among others. Her corporate representations have included CSG Group International and Nu Skin, among others.