Barry M. Clarkson

+1.858.523.5400

Profile

It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and San Diego retired partner Barry Clarkson passed away on Sunday, December 8. Widely recognized as a leading corporate lawyer of his time, he was known for his intellect, work ethic, and humility. Barry leaves a lasting legacy marked by a dedication to excellence and a commitment to his clients, colleagues, and community.

Barry Clarkson retired from the partnership in March 2018. His significant experience in transactional matters involved public and private companies, primarily in mergers and acquisitions, public and private equity and debt offerings, venture capital, and general corporate matters. He served as regular M&A and securities counsel for local public and private companies, including wireless, telecommunications, digital marketing, and energy companies.

Barry served on the Board of Advisors for EvoNexus, was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pacific South Coast Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which serves San Diego, Orange and Imperial Counties, and served as Chairman of the Board from January 2008 to January 2010. He has been listed in the “Best Lawyers in America,” and “Best Lawyers in San Diego” in the area of Corporate Law since 2007, and most recently has been named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers, an honor only awarded to a single lawyer in a practice area, in each community. Additionally, he has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Capital Markets by Legal 500 US 2013 and 2012 and he has been named as a Top Attorney for Corporate Transactional Practice by the San Diego Daily Transcript 2012. He has also been selected for inclusion in "San Diego Super Lawyers" since 2007, most recently for his work in Securities & Corporate Finance.

At the time of his retirement, Barry was a member of the State Bar of California and San Diego County Bar Associations.

Experience

Sempra Energy in its US$371 million disposition of assets constituting Block 1 and its US$347 million sale of assets constituting Block 2 of the Mesquite Power Generating Station
Golden Gaming, LLC in connection with its US$341 million merger with Lakes Entertainment, Inc. and ongoing general corporate representation of Golden Entertainment, Inc.
Tealium in connection with its Series A-D rounds of venture capital financing
Blackrock and ADK in connection with their investments in SNR Wireless, a US$4 billion joint venture formed to participate in FCC Auction No. 97
Simple Mobile LLC in the sale of all of its assets to TracFone Wireless
SAIC in the carve-out sale of its Oil & Gas IT outsourcing business to Wipro
Leap Wireless and its subsidiary Cricket Communications in connection with their US$1.4 billion refinancing and redemption of US$1.1 billion of senior secured notes and tender offer for US$250 million of convertible notes
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. in its US$82.6 million redemption of cumulative preferred stock and preference stock
Sempra Energy in its US$511 million acquisition of EnergySouth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENSI)
Visual Sciences, Inc. (formerly WebSideStory) in its US$400 million stock and cash merger with Omniture, Inc. (NASDAQ: OMTR)
Leap Wireless and its subsidiary Cricket Communications in connection with their 144A offerings of US$1.6 billion of senior notes and their concurrent 144A offerings of US$300 million of senior notes and US$250 million of convertible notes
Sempra Energy in connection with its public offerings of US$500 million, US$600 million and US$800 million of senior notes
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. in connection with its public offerings of US$250 million, US$250 million and US$350 million of first mortgage bonds
WebSideStory, Inc. in connection with its IPO of common stock, its US$55 million acquisition of Visual Sciences, LLC and US$50 million acquisition of Avivo Corporation
Photon Research Associates, Inc., in connection with its merger with a subsidiary of Raytheon
Southern California Gas Co. in connection with its public offerings of US$350 million and US$300 million of first mortgage bonds
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc., in connection with its 22-year agreement with the San Diego Padres for naming and sponsorship rights to San Diego's downtown baseball stadium, PETCO Park
Leap Wireless in connection with its strategic joint ventures and investment transactions with Alaska Native Broadband (US$300 million) and Denali Spectrum, LLC (US$350 million)
Leap Wireless in connection with acquisitions of Pocket Communications, Hargray Wireless and 20 other acquisitions or dispositions of wireless companies and/or FCC licenses
Leap Wireless in connection with its US$250 million underwritten offering of common stock coupled with corresponding forward sale contracts with Goldman Sachs and Citibank
Leap Wireless and Cricket Communications, in connection with their US$850 million funded bridge loan for the FCC's Auction No. 66
Leap Wireless and its subsidiary Cricket Communications, in connection with their successful reorganization under Chapter 11 of approximately US$2.4 billion of outstanding indebtedness, including their issuance of new US$350 million of senior secured pay-in-kind notes
Sempra Energy in its US$750 million "dutch auction" tender offer to repurchase common stock, and concurrent public offerings of US$500 million of senior notes and US$200 million of trust preferred securities to finance the stock repurchase
The underwriters of QUALCOMM Incorporated's US$1 billion offering of common stock in 1999, Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs

Qualifications

Education

JD, University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1991
magna cum laude
BA, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1984
Phi Beta Kappa