Judy O’Brien, a prominent corporate lawyer and one of Silicon Valley’s top dealmakers, is joining King & Spalding as a partner in its Redwood Shores office on November 1.

O’Brien has played a leading role at many of Silicon Valley’s most innovative and influential companies over the last 30 years. She was named Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer and appeared on Forbes magazine’s prestigious Midas Touch list for five straight years as one of venture capitals’ most powerful dealmakers.

A partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for over 20 years, O’Brien built a sizable corporate practice representing hundreds of businesses, including Sun Microsystems, Juniper Networks, KLA Tencor and LSI Logic. O’Brien left Wilson Sonsini in 2001 to co-found a venture capital fund, Incubic, and subsequently served as executive vice president of international strategy and general counsel of Obopay, an early-stage mobile payments company. Most recently, O’Brien has consulted on business and financing strategies for early-stage enterprises through her consulting firm, Laurel Advisors.

Noting King & Spalding’s growth plans for the firm’s Silicon Valley office, O’Brien observed: “Throughout my career, I have worked with a broad range of executives at companies both large and small, partnering with them to help their businesses grow. As businesses compete in an increasingly global and complex environment, the boundaries between legal and business issues have blurred. It is at this intersection that I most enjoy helping to guide business leaders, and it is precisely this skill that I look forward to leveraging at King & Spalding to execute our vision for our Silicon Valley office.”

O’Brien added: “I am really energized by being able to complement my experience with the broad range of expertise at King & Spalding. The firm offers a strong yet flexible platform that can serve the needs of large, global clients as well as small, emerging companies throughout their lifecycles.”

O’Brien’s arrival in the Silicon Valley Office follows shortly after that of veteran intellectual property litigator William F. Abrams, who joined the firm from Bingham McCutchen in July.

“Judy is a great lawyer, a good friend and a superb human being. We’re thrilled that she chose King & Spalding from the many firms competing for her talents,” said Timothy T. Scott, King & Spalding’s managing partner in Silicon Valley. “We intend to grow our presence in the Bay Area aggressively and Judy and Bill, and their expansive network of relationships in Silicon Valley, will play key roles in our growth strategy.”

King & Spalding’s Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices serve clients ranging from closely held, early stage ventures to mature, publicly traded multinationals across the technology, life sciences, energy and financial sectors. The firm’s Bay Area lawyers specialize in intellectual property disputes and licensing, securities, environmental, product liability and mass tort and general commercial litigation, arbitration and regulatory work for clients in these industries.

“With our significant strength in life sciences and intellectual property, Silicon Valley is a critical piece of the firm’s growth strategy. Our continued growth there furthers the firm’s ability to serve, among others, our technology and biotechnology clients,” said Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of King & Spalding.

O’Brien will be a member of the firm’s corporate practice group, which advises clients on a global basis on general corporate, private equity and venture capital investments and initial and follow-on public offerings, as well as mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and critical securities and regulatory issues. King & Spalding represents nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies.

O’Brien received her B.A. degree from Smith College and her law degree from UCLA.

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