Effie's national practice focuses on providing counsel to life sciences clients where she serves as a strategic advisor on a wide range of business and legal issues. Her experience covers the full spectrum of issues and transactions facing such companies and investors, including formation issues, public offerings, spin outs, corporate financings, mergers and acquisitions transactions and general corporate governance. Effie also advises her clients on the negotiation and structuring of complex technology transactions, complex strategic partnering transactions, intellectual property counseling, R&D commercialization collaborations and university licensing.

Effie is known for partnering with her clients as an integral member of the management team to collaborate on setting strategic direction as well as structuring and negotiating complex legal and corporate transactions. Her extensive operational in-house experience and deep understanding of the issues facing emerging and public life science companies allow her to provide clients with highly practical and relevant advice.

Prior to joining Fenwick, Effie served as senior vice president and general counsel with Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT), a developer of RNA-based therapeutics, and prior to that, a partner in the life sciences practice at a leading law firm. From June 2004 to June 2006, she was general counsel of GlycoFi, a venture-backed, private biotechnology company, and played a significant role in the sale of the company to Merck for $400 million. Prior to GlycoFi, Effie was senior corporate counsel at Protein Design Labs, predecessor of Facet Biotech.