Richard E. Climan

Partner

Richard E. Climan is a partner in Dewey & LeBoeuf's Mergers and Acquisitions Group and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He regularly negotiates and advises clients in a wide range of industries on a broad variety of acquisition transactions and related matters, including mergers, divestitures, auction transactions, tender offers, defensive strategies, going-private transactions, leveraged buy-outs and cross-border transactions. He has handled some of the most prominent acquisitions in the technology and life sciences sectors.

In addition to his experience in the acquisitions arena, Mr. Climan has experience in corporate finance, securities, corporate governance, joint venture and general corporate matters.

Mr. Climan serves on the Executive Committee (and previously served on the Advisory Board) of the annual Securities Regulation Institute (presented by the Corporate Counsel Center of Northwestern Law School). He also is a member of the Advisory Board of the Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report, a national publication of The Bureau of National Affairs.

From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Climan served as Chair of the Committee on Mergers & Acquisitions (affiliated with the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law), a committee with more than 2,000 members that includes mergers and acquisitions specialists from the United States, Canada and more than 20 other countries. From 1998 through 2002, Mr. Climan served as Vice Chair of that Committee. He currently serves on the Committee's Executive Council and also co-chairs the subcommittee responsible for preparing and publishing the Dealmakers' Dictionary of M&A Terminology.

The National Law Journal named Mr. Climan one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2006. In addition, for four consecutive years (2005-2008), Mr. Climan was named one of the 500 leading lawyers in America by Lawdragon. He was also named one of the top 100 lawyers in California by The Daily Journal in 2008. Mr. Climan is included in The Best Lawyers in America; EuroMoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyers; the Chambers Global Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers; the International Who’s Who of Merger & Acquisitions Lawyers; and The International Who’s Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers.

Mr. Climan is a frequent author and lecturer on M&A-related topics. He co-chairs the annual National Institute on Negotiating Business Acquisitions (presented by the ABA’s Section of Business Law). In addition, he has co-chaired:

  • The West Coast Technology M&A Forum (presented in Northern California by Law Seminars International);
  • The International Institute on Mergers & Acquisitions (presented in Paris by the American Bar Association);
  • The Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Institute (presented in New York and Silicon Valley by Glasser LegalWorks); and
  • The Doing Deals program (presented in San Francisco by the Practising Law Institute).

Mr. Climan's speaking engagements include: the Tulane Corporate Law Institute in New Orleans; the Institute on Mergers & Acquisitions in Miami; the Securities Regulation Institute in San Diego; the Institute on Corporate, Securities, and Related Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions in Southern California and New York City; the Corporate Counsel Institute in Chicago and San Francisco; and the University of Texas Mergers and Acquisitions Institute in Dallas and Houston.

Mr. Climan has also participated in M&A-related presentations at Harvard, Columbia and Stanford Law Schools, and has spoken at programs sponsored by Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). As a member of the adjunct faculty at UCLA School of Law, Mr. Climan co-teaches a course titled Real World M&A. He has lectured to the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission on public company acquisitions and has appeared as a commentator on CNBC’s nationally broadcast “Squawk Box” program and on Bloomberg News.

Mr. Climan joined Dewey & LeBoeuf from a major Bay Area firm where he was the head of its mergers and acquisitions group and a member of the management committee.

Selected Activities

  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation

Education

  • Harvard Law School, 1977, J.D., cum laude
  • Harvard University, 1974, A.B., cum laude

Bar Admissions

  • California