Dawn Smith received her B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1986. From 1986 to 1993, she served on active duty as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. In 1993, she received her M.B.A. degree from Providence College, and in 1996, she received her J.D. degree from Stanford Law School. Ms. Smith is admitted to practice in California and is a member of the business law section of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association. Before joining Morrison & Foerster LLP, Ms. Smith was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Ms. Smith is a member of Morrison & Foerster’s Corporate Finance Group. Her practice focuses on corporate and securities law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, private financings, public offerings, securities compliance, public company reporting and corporate governance. Ms. Smith regularly advises public companies on compliance and disclosure issues under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, corporate governance matters, including those relating to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, SEC, NYSE and Nasdaq rules and regulations and state law. Ms. Smith’s transactional experience includes representation of public and private companies in mergers and purchases and sales of assets, representation of emerging growth companies and venture capital firms in private financings and representation of issuers and underwriters in public offerings.