CleanTech
Alston & Bird has a long tradition in the energy and technology sectors, and we are recognized worldwide for our strengths in these areas, as well as the closely linked areas of intellectual property, venture capital, project development and carbon finance. We have leveraged our historic strengths into one of the nation’s strongest cleantech practices, consisting of an interdisciplinary team of attorneys and other professionals offering a complete spectrum of subject matter and industry expertise. Our clients are pioneers in the cleantech space; we help them navigate the continuously evolving legal framework of this fast-paced sector. In addition to vast industry experience, our cleantech practice includes extensive capabilities in an array of legal services, including:
Venture Capital/Private Equity
We represent providers of private investment capital including venture capital firms and the venture capital arms of our Fortune 500 and other clients, as well as small and large private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Because of our substantial experience in technology-related investment transactions, we are able to offer our clients market insight and industry expertise combined with cost and time efficiencies. We provide the full range of services that our venture capital and private equity clients require, including fund formation, private placements, control or minority equity investments, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and going private transactions.
Securities and Complex Corporate Transactions
We have one of the most active and sophisticated corporate practices in the United States, with experience in an array of complex transactions related to securities issuances and business combinations. Our securities practice involves the representation of issuers, underwriters, purchasers and sellers of securities in public and private transactions, both domestic and international. We regularly handle initial public offerings, follow-on equity and debt offerings, secondary equity offerings, rights and warrant offerings, investment company offerings and tender and exchange offers. We also advise our public company clients on securities regulations and legal developments including, most recently, the new and proposed SEC mandates relating to disclosure of carbon and global climate change risk matters. SEC New Registrations Report ranked Alston & Bird 5th nationally for aggregate value of completed IPOs in 2006 and 2007.
We have significant experience in developing strategies for structuring and implementing acquisitions and investments that are both innovative and practical. Our corporate attorneys handle a wide variety of complex global transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, auctions, tender offers, leveraged buy-outs, joint ventures, restructurings and strategic alliances. We represent public and private acquirers and target companies, stockholders, boards of directors and special committees, as well as hedge funds, investment banks and other financial advisors, in transactions around the world. BTI Consulting Group ranked Alston & Bird 5th in the nation in its 2007 "Masters of the Deal" list and as one of the top 10 firms for M&A transactions. We were also ranked within the top 15 firms nationally for M&A deals and deal value in 2007 by Thomson Financial and The American Lawyer.
Intellectual Property and Technology Transactions
Our intellectual property attorney team members are specialized in various cleantech technologies, including technologies in solar power, wind power, energy efficiency, clean motors, "smart grid," biofuels and other emerging technologies (as well as technical responses to regulatory requirements or business methods for compliance). Our team counsels clients on the identification, development, planning and protection of their intellectual property assets via patent and trademark filings, copyright and trade secret maintenance, proposed guidelines for business practices and the careful application of contractual provisions addressing invention assignment, nondisclosure and non-competition. We also advise our clients as to optimal ownership structures for their intellectual property from a tax and protection perspective.
Our intellectual property litigators are recognized leaders in the field of complex technology and intellectual property related litigation and have successfully enforced and defended intellectual property litigation matters for a number of cleantech technologies. Our clients also need to minimize the risk that their activities will draw infringement lawsuits from owners of patents or other intellectual property in their field, or from "patent trolls." We conduct "freedom-to-operate" searches to identify such risks, analyze clients’ exposure and help clients design around problematic patents. Our proprietary patent mapping tool presents the patent landscape in a way that both technical and non-technical business people can comprehend. We also have intellectual property lawyers who assist in the procurement, licensing and development of energy-related intellectual property assets.
Other related cleantech services include:
Our integrated approach to the clean energy space is unique among law firms and positions us to add significant value to any cleantech transaction. Utilizing the comprehensive capabilities of one of the largest clean energy groups in the United States, we are able to address the full range of policy, regulatory, financing and technology issues that impact the cleantech sector.
With over 800 lawyers located in 6 offices, Alston & Bird is well positioned to fulfill all of our clients’ needs. Our interdisciplinary team of attorneys and other professionals is dedicated to providing a broad range of services to our cleantech clients and includes two former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders, the founder of the North American Carbon Capture & Storage Association, a former Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the American Wind Energy Association and a former general manager of CO2 at Shell International.