About Cathyrn S. Gawne
Answers@the Speed of Business

Attorney: Silicon Valley Group

Cathryn Gawne is a shareholder of Silicon Valley Law Group and a member of the Corporate Group. For over 23 years, Cathy's practice has emphasized securities and corporate law for emerging growth companies across a broad range of industries, including wireless and portable information technologies, telecommunications and software, as well as “brick and mortar” industries such as automotive, mining and retail. She advises companies on private financings, initial and follow-on public offerings, mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures and commercial transactions. She has extensive experience counseling public and private companies on a variety of Sarbanes Oxley compliance issues, including corporate governance and disclosure requirements. She also counsels clients who are starting or franchising new businesses with respect to general corporate matters and protection of their intellectual property. Cathy also represents several nonprofit corporations, and counsels them on corporate structure and governance. She will be on faculty for IBI Global's 906 Forum.

The following is a collection of Cathy's recent engagements:

•  Represented a public company in a series of acquisitions of privately held security companies.

•  Represented two privately held Chinese companies in their transitions to publicly traded US businesses.
•  Represented an LLC in a seed stage financing and roll-out of a hallmark leisure product line.
•  Represented a public company in a series of offshore placements pursuant to Regulation S.

From June 2004 through June 2006, Cathy served as the President of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (“ACG”), a global association for professionals involved in corporate growth, corporate development and mergers and acquisitions for middle market companies. She has served on the ACG Silicon Valley Board since 2002. Cathy serves on several other for-profit and nonprofit Boards, including the Board of Directors of MediaG3, a company featuring online and wireless interactive rich-media services and products, The Center for Healthy Development, a nonprofit corporation offering affordable psychotherapy and counseling, and The Women in Technology Foundation, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing women in technology. She also serves on the Advisory Board of Semotus Solutions, a publicly traded company that enables wireless solutions for enterprise customers, and the Dean of Science's Advisory Board at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. She has served as a member of the executive team of the San Jose Professional Women's Leads Club, and was named co-Member of the Year for 2004. Cathy received the Women in Business Award from San Jose Magazine in 2003. In 2006 she was the recipient of the YWCA's Tribute to Women (TWIN) Award and was one of three finalists for the Silicon Valley Business Journal's Women of Distinction Award in 2005 and 2006.

Cathy is a member of the Santa Clara County Bar Association (where she also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section), the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association. She is a frequent speaker on corporate and securities law issues before such groups as IBI and WITI (Women in Technology International) conferences in Silicon Valley, Dallas, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts. She is also a proud member of the 12th Man Club, a group supporting the Stanford University football team.

Cathy received her J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from Stanford University.