Christopher (Kit) Kaufman

After 45 years of practicing law with major firms where I focused on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance, I have started a more focused practice. Kit Kaufman, Counsel to Independent Directors, will concentrate exclusively on advising independent members of boards of directors to help those directors perform their oversight duties while working effectively with the full Board, management and the company’s counsel. In addition to legal knowledge, I believe I bring independent directors direct, practical, hands-on experience, having served as a member of the board of directors for five corporations and as the Chairman of two of those boards.

My high-end counseling experience enables me to represent clients in:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Special committee assignments involving strategic transactions and internal investigations
• Hostile takeovers representing both targets and unsolicited acquirers
• Proxy contest engagements

• Special Committee assignments involving both strategic transactions such as sales of companies and investigation of stock option backdating
• Mergers and acquisitions including representation of Avago Technologies Ltd. in its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom Inc. and representation of Lucasfilm in its $4 billion sale to The Walt Disney Company
• Initial public offerings and other securities offerings on behalf of issuers as well as major investment banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank
• Advice to Boards of Directors generally including Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom Limited, Bio-Rad Laboratories, The Cooper Companies, Celera Corporation, Mattson Technologies Inc. and Mentor Graphics Corporation
• Member of the boards of directors of Qantel Corporation, Applied ImmuneSciences, Inc. and FP International, and Chair of the Board of Rexall Corporation and the PRO Corporation
• Member of the American Bar Association Committee on Corporate Laws, which rewrites the Model Business Corporation Act

• Chambers USA—His clients have noted that “it is obvious the board will listen since his advice is seasoned, sound, measured and appropriate.”
• Attorney of the Year, The Recorder—for his lead role in advising Lucasfilm Ltd. in its $4.05 billion sale to The Walt Disney Company
• One of the world’s leading practitioners of corporate governance in The International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers and Corporate M&A
• Super Lawyers Bay Area 2004-2017 (Mergers & Acquisitions)

“I have worked with Kit Kaufman in my capacity as a director (in one case lead independent director) of two public companies in M&A transactions.  Kit was crucial to making sure the board followed the right process and made the right decisions to protect the independent directors.”

—Kevin Costello, public company board member (404-317-5598)

“I retained Kit Kaufman to represent the Board of a public corporation of which I was the chair where another law firm generally represented the company.  Kit provided valuable insights throughout the eight years he represented the Board and was particularly helpful in protecting the independent board members in connection with the company’s sale.”

—Ken Kannappan, former CEO of Plantronics (831-295-2047)

*The statements made by these references do not constitute a guaranty, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.