Events

Shearman & Sterling hosted the webinar Maximizing Opportunities in Clean Hydrogen and Carbon Capture Under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act on November 17, 2022.

Shearman & Sterling was pleased to host the inaugural Digital Finance Summit on November 15–16 in New York City. This event was also livestreamed.

Shearman & Sterling is pleased to announce the list of industry leaders who spoke at the inaugural Digital Finance Summit on November 15–16 in New York City. This event was also livestreamed.

Shearman & Sterling was a proud underwriter of The 11th Annual Texas Life Science Forum, the premier life science event in Texas that brings together members from industry, emerging life science companies, academic, and investors. The Forum was be held on November 8, 2022, on campus at Rice University and was co-hosted by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

Shearman & Sterling is proud to sponsor the Texas General Counsel Forum 24th Annual Conference which was held in Austin, Texas on November 3–4, 2022.

Shearman & Sterling presented Challenges of the Current Venture Capital Market and Best Practices in Response to a virtual audience. With an emphasis on the Latin America market, the webinar reviewed market conditions and trends impacting emerging growth businesses, assessing leadership and investors, and best practices for startups to optimize financing and operational performance during down rounds.

Shearman & Sterling and Live Oak Venture Partners co-hosted the Houston Startup Bash on October 13, 2022, where Houston’s top entrepreneurs, investors, and talent enjoyed a networking happy hour celebrating the city’s vibrant startup community.

Shearman & Sterling is a proud sponsor of The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s 19^th Annual Energy Tech Venture Forum, the premier energy tech venture capital conference held in Houston, Texas on September 15, 2022.

Shearman & Sterling hosted its 2nd Annual Shearman & Sterling Corporate Venture Investor Summit in person in Austin, Texas on May 18-20, 2022.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to support the 13th Annual One Word At A Time fundraiser benefiting Austin Speech Labs on May 6, 2022.

Shearman & Sterling was a proud sponsor of the 22nd Annual Rice Alliance Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest and richest student start up competition, held on April 7–9, 2022 in Houston, Texas.

In honor of International Women’s Day, Shearman & Sterling hosted a webinar on the contributions women are making to the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries.

Shearman & Sterling is a proud underwriter of the Texas Life Science Forum, the premier life science event in Texas that brings together members from industry, emerging life science companies, academic, and investors. The 2022 conference was held on February 24, 2022 on campus at Rice University and was co-hosted by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

Cassandra Cuellar served as a moderator of  “Scaling to International Markets” on September 2, 2021 to a virtual audience of UK and US startups. The interactive session covered fundraising, legalities, and partnerships and allowed the audience to workshop collaboratively with key experts.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to underwrite the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship Energy Tech Venture Day at the Offshore Technology Conference. The event allowed startups to connect with investors and energy companies on August 16, 2021.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to sponsor the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2021 Central Texas Program. The program recognizes unstoppable entrepreneurs in Central Texas whose unbounded ambitions deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world.

Shearman & Sterling was pleased to host the fourth installment of our Family Office Webinar Series on Wednesday, July 28, 2021, “NFTs – Investment Opportunities in Emerging Digital Assets” led by partner Donna Parisi, with Vanessa Grellet, Head of Portfolio Growth at Coinfund.

Dramatic and unprecedented events have accelerated the acknowledgement that the corporation’s obligation to society at large and its various stakeholders has only intensified. While environmental issues (the ‘E’ of ESG) continue to be important, social and governance issues (the ‘S’ and the ‘G’ of ESG) have now taken center stage.

Cassandra Cuellar presented “Create Your Terms & What Investors Want to See” on July 7, 2021 to a virtual panel of attendees from Geekdom.

Shearman & Sterling presented “Preparing for a Venture Financing” to several networks of entrepreneurs. The presentations were co-hosted with Savvi Legal, a platform that connects companies and investors to attorneys, streamlining legal processes for founders of high-growth startups.

Shearman & Sterling was a sponsor of The University of Texas School of Law CLE’s “34th Annual Technology Law Conference.” Each year, the conference brings nationally recognized licensed practitioners together with in-house counsel from leading technology companies, as well as experts in both established and emerging technologies affecting the industry.

Shearman & Sterling Family Office Group hosted a webinar discussion led by partner Donna Parisi with Anthony Saliba, CEO and founder of Matrix Holding Group. The webinar took place on Wednesday, May 19 at 11:00 am –12:00 pm ET.

Counsel Katherine J. Stoller (New York-Litigation) participated in a panel organized by the Trade Association for the Emerging Markets titled, “The Outlook for Russia,” on May 13, 2021. The panel was comprised of investors, as well as experts in geopolitics and sanctions enforcement, who discussed the outlook for Russia in light of recent international and domestic developments, including U.S. sanctions.

Shearman & Sterling Family Office Group hosted a webinar discussion led by partner Donna Parisi with Mark Yusko, the Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management.  The webinar took place on Wednesday, April 28 at 11:00 am–12:00 pm ET.

In 2020, the world has seen the highest IPO capital raising activity in a decade with no signs of stopping in the first part of 2021.

Shearman & Sterling co-hosted a Startup Panel with S3 Ventures on “The Journey to a Successful Exit,” during which the leaders behind recent exits to DocuSign and Hologic shared their experience in an intimate conversation with members of S3 Ventures and Shearman & Sterling.

Shearman & Sterling co-hosted the Austin CEO Club event with Comerica Bank and Bridgepoint Consulting on December 9, 2020 at 4:00 pm CT.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to host the Venture Fellows from McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas for our annual Series A Term Sheet Mock Negotiation, which took place on October 21.

Shearman & Sterling co-hosted the Finance Leadership Summit series throughout Fall.

Shearman & Sterling presented on Seed Financing Structures during a webinar with Pax Momentum, a startup accelerator focused on early-stage companies outside of Silicon Valley.

Shearman & Sterling presented Top 10 Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs to startup founders participating in the Tarmac TX 2020 cohort.

Associate Montana Ware (Austin-Emerging Growth) presented on the Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs to startup founders participating in the Tarmac TX 2020 cohort.

Partner Gillian Emmett Moldowan (New York-Compensation, Governance & ERISA) and associate Cassandra Cuellar (Austin-Emerging Growth) provided startup founders with a legal perspective on raising capital and negotiating equity compensation in a two-part webinar series, co-hosted with Quesnay.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to sponsor the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 Central Texas Program and Virtual Gala.

Partner Chris Forrester led a webinar discussion with City Light Capital partners Josh Cohen and Tom Groos where they discussed the increasing number of family offices that are exploring ways to invest for impact across asset classes.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to be an underwriter of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s 18th Annual Energy and Clean Technology Venture Forum, which was presented virtually on September 15-17, 2020.

Partner Carmelo Gordian (Austin-Emerging Growth) served as a co-panelist of “The Ecosystem of Connected Health in Argentina” hosted by the Argentinian chapter of the European Connected Health Alliance on September 2 at 8:30 am ET/ 7:30 am CT. Carmelo previously participated in a similar event hosted by ECHAlliance’s Chilean chapter.

On July 28 at 10:00 am ET, in partnership with Innovate Finance, the industry body for FinTech in the U.K., partner Pawel Szaja and associate Cassandra Cuellar joined by Kirsty Grant, Chief Investment Officer at Seedrs, and Ryan Gilbert, General Partner at Propel Venture Partners, for a webinar titled “Return of the Down Round: Financing Amidst a Pandemic.”

Partner Michael Chernick participated in a webinar on Monday, June 8 with leaders at OakNorth, Sean Hunter (CIO) and Neil Kahrim (Director), to discuss the business and legal challenges banks face with Main Street lending and ways they can use it as a tool to drive the best outcomes for their borrowers and shareholders.

Shearman and Sterling was proud to once again sponsor Austin Speech Labs’ One Word at a Time fundraiser. Austin Speech Labs is a non-profit organization that supports stroke survivors by providing affordable speech, language, music and cognitive therapy. 

Shearman & Sterling Asia Regional Managing Partner Lorna Chen moderated a webinar discussion with Eric Rosenblum, Managing Partner of Tsingyuan Ventures and Wei Zhou, Founding Managing Partner of China Creation Ventures, where they discussed the global drivers of deep tech investment growth, the implications for the increasing number of Chinese technologists in the U.S. and key points of differentiation between the U.S. and China’s venture capital and technology markets.

Shearman & Sterling sponsored The University of Texas at Austin School of Law’s 33rd Annual Technology Law Conference held on May 21–22.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to sponsor The University of Texas at Austin School of Law’s 33rd Annual Technology Law Conference on May 21–22.

The conference was held virtually and provided timely insights on COVID-19-related topics, including the impact on transactions, developments in case law, IP and bankruptcies, navigating employment law, and privacy considerations.

Shearman & Sterling served as a panelist on “COVID-19 Issues for Business” hosted by the Austin Technology Incubator to discuss current resources available to startups and small businesses at the city, state and federal level during the COVID-19 crisis. Shearman & Sterling discussed the federal programs resulting from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, in particular, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The CARES Act allocated $349 billion for the SBA to guarantee loans to small businesses under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP utilizes the existing framework of the SBA’s 7(a) loan program to make loans to businesses to incentive near-term employment. The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) have released limited guidance on the PPP in the form of summaries, interim final rules and frequently asked questions.

On April 6, Shearman & Sterling hosted a webinar where a cross-practice team of lawyers highlighted relevant considerations for FinTechs and emerging growth companies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shearman & Sterling is proud to have served as legal advisor in three of the following transactions recognized by the Global M&A Network at their annual U.S.A. M&A Atlas Awards Gala on March 5, 2020, in Washington, D.C.

On February 27, partners Gillian Emmett Moldowan (New York-Compensation, Governance & ERISA) led a roundtable discussion titled “Executive Compensation: Equity, Options & More,” which was hosted and joined by representatives of J.P. Morgan, including Kaylin Klinger, Executive Compensation Specialist, and Abigail Mead and Brittanie Bailor from JP Morgan Private Bank. The discussion shared valuable insights regarding formation and pre-transaction planning and compensation considerations for startups and scaleups.

Shearman & Sterling was proud to sponsor Women@Austin, a non-profit organization empowering female entrepreneurs through programming, educational resources and community. On February 26, associate Cassandra Cuellar (Austin- Capital Markets) presented ‘Term Sheets 101’ during Demystifying Fundraising: A Boot Camp for Women Entrepreneurs, a multi-day intensive event, where women entrepreneurs came together to learn the nuts and bolts of fundraising from subject-matter experts and serial entrepreneurs.

It is known that successful tech companies have sprung up all over Asia, the United States and Europe. But now the spotlight is focused on Latin America, as the region is growing a prominent nucleus for the newest creative entrepreneurship ecosystem. Latin Americans have recently set the bar very high and the panel will showcase how the startups attained unicorn status, which legal, political and financial circumstances enabled such development, innovation and keen business senses, and M&A opportunities. We will uncover Latin America’s most global tech hub and explore the differences in startups in diverse countries.

Shearman & Sterling hosted ShareNett’s Israel Innovation & Cybersecurity Symposium on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 in its New York office. Partner Adam Schwartz (Washington, D.C.-Litigation) moderated a panel discussion entitled “Cybersecurity – Threats & Defenses,” which provided a glimpse at how Israel is preparing for future cyber threats, its cyber defense policies and the effects of new and emerging technologies on the cyber vertical. The symposium consisted of a half-day of panel discussions and a fireside chat on topics related to the Israeli technological ecosystem and cyber risk management to an audience of family offices and high net-worth individuals.

Shearman & Sterling co-hosted the Austin Finance Leadership Summit on Tuesday, October 22, 2019.

Shearman & Sterling and Donnelly Financial Solution co-sponsored this year's free business and law event at the University of Texas Club on September 20.  The event began with lunch and networking, followed by a discussion on how in-house counsel can best guide their company through the significant events in its growth from startup to a publicly traded giant.

Shearman & Sterling is a proud sponsor of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance), a nationally recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education and the launch of technology companies. Representatives from Shearman & Sterling attended the Rice Alliance 17th Annual Energy and Clean Technology Venture Forum, the largest energy and clean technology venture capital conference in the Southwest, on September 11, 2019.

University of Texas School of Law CLE’s 32nd Annual Technology Law Conference brought together a nationally recognized faculty of technology and licensing practitioners, in-house counsel from leading tech companies and experts in open source, data privacy/security and emerging technology for the latest issues affecting the industry. On Thursday, May 23, Alan Bickerstaff (Austin-Emerging Growth) presented “Startups - The Latest in Financing Trends.”

On May 14, 2019, Alan Bickerstaff (Austin- Emerging Growth) presented “The Latest Trends in Emerging Growth Financings” to the Austin Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Shearman & Sterling hosted a breakfast panel called “Investing in Women: Why Bridging the Gap Matters” in partnership with NYC FinTech Women. The panel focused on why accelerating the number of female entrepreneurs, start up and venture capital investors, and board members is important to achieving gender parity and #BalanceforBetter. There were more than 125 people in attendance, a significant number of which were female founders focused on FinTech.

Shearman & Sterling’s Hong Kong office celebrated International Women’s Day 2019 on March 8 with a series of internal events and activities.

Shearman & Sterling hosted an intimate fireside chat between Denise Ho, Tesla’s Deputy General Counsel and Head of Legal, Asia Pacific, and Deborah Kaplan, Litigation Counsel for Morgan Stanley.

Shearman & Sterling and DC Finance held a full day of sessions dedicated to family offices and high net worth individuals. cCorporates, funds and private family offices were heard on what is driving the blockchain and cryptoasset space. Partner Donna Parisi, Co-Head of Financial Services and FinTech, moderated the event. Kris Ferranti, Real Estate partner, moderated panel discussions.

Shearman & Sterling proudly sponsored the KPMG Finance Leadership Summit held at the Hotel Granduca in Austin, Texas on October 30, 2018.

Shearman & Sterling presented "Venture Financing—Demystifying Convertible Notes/SAFEs" on October 25, 2018 at 10:00 am during San Antonio Startup Week, a five-day celebration of all things entrepreneurship in the city.

Shearman & Sterling a was proud sponsor of the Texas Minority Counsel Program (TMCP) 16th Annual Conference in Houston, Texas on October 17–19, 2018. Founded in 1993, TMCP is a client development, networking and CLE event for diverse attorneys in Texas. 

WISER, the women’s inclusion network of Shearman & Sterling, and The Collective Future, a global collective of leaders in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors dedicated to fostering diversity in blockchain and cryptoassets, joined for a panel discussion on recent developments in blockchain technology, including its wide-ranging impact and its evolving legal and regulatory landscape. During the program, blockchain leaders from Consensys, AIG, Satis Group and Genesis Block shared their perspectives and insights on this cutting-edge technology. The panel was moderated by Donna Parisi, partner and Co-Head of Financial Services and FinTech at Shearman & Sterling.

Partner Donna Parisi, Global Head of Financial Services and FinTech, co-hosted a FinTech Salon Series with Tim Kelly, CEO and Managing Partner of BitOoda Technologies on October 10.

Shearman & Sterling and FinTech Cocktail Club hosted an intimate cocktail event where FinTech, regulatory, financial services and technology minds came together during Finovate Fall 2018 to celebrate the innovators shaping the future of financial services. We were delighted to have Jess Podell from Citi Ventures join us.  Donna Parisi, Alan Bickerstaff, Rupa Briggs, and Mary Pennisi were a few of our attorneys in attendance.

Shearman & Sterling was a proud sponsor of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance), a nationally recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education and the launch of technology companies. Representatives from Shearman & Sterling attended the Rice Alliance 16th Annual Energy and Clean Technology Venture Forum, the largest energy and clean technology venture capital conference in the Southwest, which was held on September 13, 2018.

Shearman & Sterling was a proud sponsor of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year® 2018 Central Texas Program and Gala on June 8, 2018. The awards program recognized entrepreneurs who are excelling in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. These business leaders were selected by a panel of independent judges. Award winners were announced at the gala on June 8, 2018 at JW Marriott Austin.

Partner Chris Forrester (Menlo Park-Capital Markets) spoke on a panel titled “Robotics and AI: How Will Boards Embrace Tomorrow’s Technologies?” at a program hosted by Stanford University’s Rock Center for Corporate Governance and the Silicon Valley Directors’ Exchange on February 15, 2018 at Stanford Law School. Fellow panelists included George Kadifa, Managing Director at Sumeru Equity Partners; Michelle K. Lee, visiting Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and Former Director at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and former Undersecretary of Commerce for IP; Roy Nicholson, Principal of Advisory Services at Grant Thornton; and Jorge L. Titinger, founder of Titinger Consulting and Director of Hercules Capital and XCerra. 

Partner Michael Dorf (San Francisco-Mergers & Acquisitions) presented at PLI’s “Venture Capital 2017: Nuts and Bolts” seminar on June 28 in San Francisco. The program aimed to provide a foundation for those interested in the venture capital field and examined the anatomy of a venture capital deal, term sheet negotiation, key issues in follow-on financing rounds, exit strategies, and securities law compliance.