Mr. Benton is known for his significant experience in U.S. and international technology investment and brings deep experience in Silicon Valley business and industry trends.

Mr. Benton advises U.S. and foreign companies and their investors on corporate, commercial, emerging growth and technology law issues. His work includes corporate structuring, venture capital financing, cross-border investment, international commercial contracts involving distribution, sales and licensing and technology transactions, M&A, IPOs, international public offerings, corporate governance and business operations, and other strategic U.S. and international business law matters.

Mr. Benton serves as outside General Counsel to many emerging growth and technology startup companies. He has a strong corporate, IP and litigation background. He provides strategic counseling to a broad array of companies ranging from Silicon Valley startups to U.S. and foreign-based Global 100 companies.

He represents technology companies headquartered in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and advises numerous U.S. and foreign venture investors on U.S. and offshore investment opportunities. He advises a number of multinational technology and telecommunications companies on their global legal requirements and has managed multi-jurisdictional teams servicing those clients. He has advised several multi-national governmental and trade organizations on international business and technology issues.

Mr. Benton has represented high tech companies in sectors including Internet (connectivity, content, Web 2.0 and e-commerce), software (operating systems, networking, security and applications), hardware (semiconductors, memory, optics and peripherals) and telecommunications (wireless and broadband). He advises companies in the entertainment and media sectors on digital copying and other technology convergence issues. Mr. Benton also regularly represents U.S. and international companies and investors in other sectors including retail, finance, biotech/pharmaceuticals, materials sciences, greentech and alternative energy.

Mr. Benton is trained as both a corporate lawyer and litigation/international arbitration lawyer. He serves regularly as an Arbitrator in international investment and technology law arbitrations. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of various prestigious international panels.

Mr. Benton’s international practice was featured in an article published in California Lawyer titled "Attorneys Without Borders," September 2004. He has been consistently named a "Super Lawyer" (top 5% of Northern California attorneys) by his peers. Law & Politics and San Francisco Magazine.

Mr. Benton is qualified to practice law as both a U.S. lawyer and an English solicitor. (UK regulated activities regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.)

Education

J.D., Tulane University Law School and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1984
cum laude

A.B., Washington University in St. Louis, 1981
cum laude

Admissions

State of California, District of Columbia, Law Society of England and Wales

All California state and federal courts, Ninth Circuit, Federal Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court

Fellow: Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Affiliations

ICDR/American Arbitration Association International Panel; World Intellectual Property Assn. (WIPO) List of Neutrals; International Bar Association (Business section); American Bar Association (Business Law and International sections); California Bar Association (International Law section)

Quoted In

Financial Times - Silicon Valley Feels the Lure of London, 09-Oct-2006

The Wall Street Journal - Small U.S. Firms Take AIM in London, 17-Apr-2006

Sunday Express - AIM is Hot for U.S. Tech Listings, 02-Apr-2006

Firm Publications

IPO Opportunities in London for U.S. Technology Companies, June 2006

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Going Public, 01-Jan-2005

The Internationalization of Venture Capital, 01-Sep-2004

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: The Digital Copying War Between Hollywood and the Silicon Valley, 25-Feb-2004

The Federal CAN-SPAM Act: Prohibitions on Email Advertising and Spam, 01-Jan-2004

Open Source Software Issues, 13-Aug-2003

Cross Border Disputes: Should My Company Use International Business Arbitration?, 25-Sep-2002

External Publications

Legal Minds: Let's Make Internet Laws Truly Borderless, Law.com, June 2006

Legal Issues in Raising Venture Capital: An Overview for Entrepreneurs, Venture Capital Best Practices, 01-May-2005

Looking at Israeli Venture Capital from the Silicon Valley, Israel Venture Capital & Private Equity Journal, 06-Apr-2005