Stephen Welles

Stephen M. Welles is counsel in the Palo Alto office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he practices corporate and securities law. He advises both public and emerging technology companies in matters such as mergers and acquisitions, public and private equity offerings, and corporate governance.

From 2008 to 2015, Steve was senior vice president and general counsel at Oplink Communications, a Nasdaq-listed public company with more than 3,000 employees worldwide and operations in California, China, and Taiwan.

While at Oplink, he was responsible for managing the company’s SEC compliance, corporate governance, acquisitions, intellectual property, patent disputes, commercial agreements, shareholder activism, and other business and legal matters. Oplink was acquired by Koch Industries in December 2014.

Previously, Steve was an associate and Of Counsel in WSGR’s Palo Alto office from 1999 to 2008, where he advised public and private technology companies on a broad variety of matters.

He played a lead role in numerous corporate transactions, including IPOs (and other public offerings), public and private M&A transactions, venture capital financings, joint ventures, debt transactions, and licensing arrangements.

As an attorney in the firm’s China practice from 2005 to 2008, he also advised companies operating in or focusing on China.

From 1996 to 1999, Steve was an associate at Ropes & Gray in Boston, where he participated in a wide variety of business transactions, including public and private M&A transactions, IPOs, public and private debt offerings, private placements, bank financings, and cross-border transactions.

EDUCATION:

• J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1996
• B.A., Economics, Boston College, 1991

ADMISSIONS:

• State Bar of California