Shawna M. Reeder

Shawna provides practical, tailored, business-driven counseling to venture-backed companies as they approach strategic alliances, corporate partnering arrangements, technology protection, licensing and commercialization of intellectual property and technology assets, and product development. With a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by startups and emerging growth companies across a broad spectrum of industries and a proven track record of structuring and negotiating strategic commercial deals that accelerate growth while managing risk, Shawna is dedicated to helping her clients efficiently navigate the often complex legal landscape while prioritizing their business objectives. A trusted partner to her clients, Shawna has a proven track record of structuring and negotiating strategic commercial deals that accelerate growth while managing key risks for venture-backed companies. She has represented companies that have been acquired by Nvidia, Proctor & Gamble, Synopsys, LinkedIn and others and continues to work with companies that have gone public.

In addition to her company-side practice, Shawna also works closely with the industry’s top venture capital funds in connection with their investment activities, identifying and weighing the strategic and transactional technology, intellectual property, commercial and privacy issues that may be present in such investments.

Prior to joining Gunderson Dettmer, Shawna served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Edward J. Davila in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Prior to that clerkship, Shawna worked for several years as a litigation associate at Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, where her practice centered on intellectual property, antitrust, and education matters.