Gregory C. Smith

With over thirty years of experience in private practice, including over a decade as a corporate partner at Skadden, Arps, Greg has extensive experience in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, licensing & partnering transactions, and corporate restructurings. Over the course of his career, he has managed numerous corporate transactions ranging from several million to several billion dollars in size and aggregating many billions of dollars in value.

Greg has represented companies in healthcare and technology in domestic and international transactions, and has represented most of the leading investment banks as well as a number of the smaller boutique institutions in a variety of transactions.

He has acted as corporate secretary for various companies and has advised companies and their boards on governance matters. He also has advised companies and their boards on matters related to corporate control, special committee investigations, regulatory inquiries and shareholder litigation.

Publications

General Editor & Primary Contributing Author, Start-Up and Emerging Companies: Planning, Financing and Operating the Successful Business, Law Journal Press, 2004 – 2023

Author of Chapter 4, “Federal Securities Laws Considerations of Raising Capital: A Practical Guide,” Chapter 9, “Registration and Investor Rights Agreements,” Chapter 17, “Venture Capital Analysis and Negotiation,” and Chapter 23, “Sample Start-Up Company Forms”

Background

Prior to founding Woodside Counsel, Greg helped open the Palo Alto office of Skadden, Arps, where he was a partner for over a decade. Before that, he was a partner in the Palo Alto and San Francisco offices of Cooley LLP. After graduating from Columbia and prior to joining Cooley, Greg was a corporate associate in the San Francisco office of Skadden, Arps.

Interests

Greg has an active interest and background in music and literature. His first novel, A Matter of Choice, PD Publishing, was released in the fall of 2008. While at Stanford University, he was the winner of the Stanford Concerto Competition (piano) and the Dean of Humanities and Sciences Award in music. In his youth, he appeared as a soloist with the Utah Symphony on several occasions.