Larry Sonsini (born c. 1941) is an American lawyer specializing all aspects of corporate law. He is senior partner and founder^[1] of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, an international law firm in business and intellectual property law. In 2021, Sonsini was chosen to serve as chair of the board of trustees at Santa Clara University.^[2]

Early life and education

Sonsini was born to Lawrence and Mary Sonsini, and moved from Rome, New York to California in 1949, when Sonsini was eight years old. The family ultimately settled in Van Nuys. During high school, Sonsini played on his school's football team.^[3]

Sonsini received his B.A. degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963.^[4] Sonsini studied law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he graduated and received his J.D. degree from in 1966.^[5] During law school, Sonsini became interested in business law, and had initially planned to move to New York City to pursue his career. He ultimately chose to stay in Northern California on the advice of his securities law professor.^[3]

Career

Sonsini started out counseling semiconductor companies including Cypress Semiconductor, National Semiconductor and LSI Logic. He later counseled hardware firms such as Sun Microsystems, Apple Computer, Silicon Graphics and Seagate Technology and software companies such as Novell, Sybase, WordPerfect and VMware. He has also worked for Google, Netscape and YouTube.^[6] He has served as an advisor to many of the key figures in Silicon Valley history, including Steve Jobs, and the principals of Google and Hewlett-Packard.

In 2006, he was called to testify in front of a subcommittee of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee to answer questions about an investigation by Hewlett-Packard into leaks from its board of directors, in which it was alleged that private detectives hired by the chairperson illegally obtained private phone records of some of the company's board members.^[7] (He was never accused of any wrongdoing in the matter).

Sonsini was recognized for his commitment to education in Silicon Valley at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation's September 2012 Pioneers & Purpose event. He was honored with the Pioneer Business Leader Award, which is awarded to individuals who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in business and education.

Personal life

As of 2006, Sonsini has three children and five grandchildren.^[3] His son Pete Sonsini joined venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates in 2005, and now is a general partner of the firm and head of its enterprise practice group.^[8][9] Another son, Matthew W. Sonsini, is married to Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, the daughter of billionaire real estate developer John A. Sobrato.^[10]

Sonsini became chair of the board of trustees for Santa Clara University in 2021.^[2]

References