Associate, Emerging Companies

White-; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Retirement plan

Paid leave

Job summary

White & Case's Silicon Valley office seeks a junior associate with 1–3 years of experience representing emerging companies, founders, and venture capital funds in corporate and M&A matters.

The role spans formation, financing, and mergers & acquisitions across software, life sciences, and tech sectors, with a focus on international deal making and high-caliber client service. Salary range $225,000–$260,000; US-based, on-site in Silicon Valley.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years’ experience with emerging companies, venture financing, and M&A
• Ability to interact with client senior management
• Excellent drafting and analytical skills

Responsibilities

• Represent emerging technology and life science companies and venture capital investors in corporate and transactional matters
• Lead due diligence and advise on start‑ups and financings
• Draft and oversee mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and joint ventures
• Interact with clients to protect their interests

Skills

Fluency in English

Team player

Strong communication

Client service focus

Education

California Bar Admission

Job description

Our Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Practice is globally recognized as a top-tier leader in both public and private M&A transactions. We deliver unparalleled legal services for complex corporate deals, offering strategic planning, due diligence, negotiation, and execution of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and other business combinations. Serving a diverse clientele, including multinational corporations, private equity firms and banks, our team ensures regulatory compliance, manages risk, and structures transactions for optimal outcomes. By combining extensive legal expertise with deep market insight, we help clients navigate high-stakes transactions, fostering growth and creating value, solidifying our reputation as one of the premier M&A practices worldwide.

Position Summary

We are currently looking for a junior associate who has 1 – 3 years’ experience representing emerging companies, their founders and venture capital funds to join the Corporate and M&A practice in our Silicon Valley office. The ideal candidate will have experience representing emerging growth companies and their founders at all stages of their lifecycle (business formation, financing transactions, and mergers and acquisitions) as well as the funds that invest in them. Our practice is across a broad range of industries, such as software, enterprise, security, digital health, AI, fintech, gaming, and blockchain. As well as possessing excellent academic credentials and legal knowledge, you should also be commercially minded, with a solid grasp of the market, an enthusiasm for the cut-and-thrust of international deal making, and an ability to synthesize issues in a manner easily understandable by our clients and other team members. Highly focused, you should display the organizational skills and composure needed to thrive in a demanding, fast-paced practice, working to tight deadlines and managing multiple workstreams and communication channels. Given the fluidity of the deal-making process, you should also be mentally agile—adept at thinking on your feet, and quickly adapting to changing circumstances. Excellent oral and written communication skills will be major assets—enabling you to negotiate effectively and to seamlessly manage the flow of information between practice groups, clients and stakeholders. Regularly working in large, international and multidisciplinary teams, you should also demonstrate a collaborative approach and an ease interacting with a wide range of legal and business professionals. Proactive and self-motivated, you should be eager to take ownership of your work product and demonstrate the skill, talent and commitment to deliver outstanding results.

Duties and Accountabilities

• Representing emerging technology and life science companies and venture capital investors in a broad range of corporate and transactional matters, including incorporation, early and late-stage venture financings, mergers and acquisitions, and private and public offerings.
• Advising on start‑ups, venture capital financing, corporate formations, shareholders agreements, and corporate restructures
• Initial drafting efforts for all aspects of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, private equity transactions, joint ventures and investments for sophisticated public and private clients
• Regularly interacting with clients and ensuring that their interests are properly represented and protected at all times
• Leading on due diligence
• Conducting and overseeing legal research
• Ensuring clients’ interests are properly represented and protected at all times

Qualifications

• 1-3 years experience with emerging companies with solid understanding of corporate matters, including venture financing and mergers & acquisitions
• Ability to interact directly with client’s senior management
• Strong academic record and intellectual curiosity, creative thinker
• Commercial and business awareness
• Outstanding communication skills
• Strong time management skills, ability to stay calm under pressure when juggling multiple projects
• Excellent drafting skills
• Driven by professional growth
• Strong professional presence
• Client service focus
• Team player
• Strong judgment
• Proactive, resourceful, takes initiative and a self-starter
• Fluency in English
• Admitted to the CA bar and in good standing

Locations and Compensation

Offices: Silicon Valley

Salary range: US$225,000 - $260,000

Reporting

This role reports to Partner

Equal Opportunities

White & Case is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and is committed to creating a fair workplace. It is our Firm’s policy to recruit, employ, train, compensate and promote without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other category protected by applicable law.

Benefits at White & Case

• medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability coverage, 401(k) retirement savings, vacation time, and leave programs (including parental leave).
• Exempt roles are also performance bonus eligible.

Firm Summary

White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. With a long history as an international firm, we are well-positioned to help clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may arise. Operating across six continents and working in virtually every country, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality, full-service practice that competes at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in key financial markets and our expertise in handling complex cross-border work. What sets us apart is not just our global network of offices but the interconnectedness of our Firm. Our people and clients value our collaboration across geographic and practice boundaries, which is why we attract and retain significant cross-border work. Representing multiple nationalities from across the world and speaking a vast array of languages, our lawyers and Business Services professionals are globally minded, enterprising, and committed to excellence.