William R. Skinner

Office

Silicon Valley

Practices

Industries

Education & Admissions

J.D., with distinction, member of Stanford Law Review
Stanford Law School

B.A., History
University of California, Berkeley

Admitted to practice in California

Will assists companies on corporate and U.S. international tax planning issues, with a focus on advising corporate transactions in the technology and life sciences industries. He has been the lead tax counsel on numerous complex and high-stakes transactions, including M&A, internal restructurings, debt and equity financings, partnerships and licensing, and IP-related transactions.

Prior to entering private practice, Will clerked for the Honorable Carlos T. Bea, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a frequent writer and speaker, including authoring “Bloomberg BNA Tax Management Portfolio - CFCs : Sections 959 – 965 and 1248” and co-authoring a monthly Tax Notes column, “U.S. International Tax Review.”

He's a highly sophisticated professional with a broad tax vision."

Chambers USA, Client Quote

2023 Edition

Morphic Holdings in its $3.2 billion acquisition by Eli Lilly
Smartsheet in its $8.4 billion acquisition by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners
Redfin in its pending $1.75 billion acquisition by Rocket Companies
Niantic in its pending $3.5 billion acquisition by Scopely and PIF
Cupertino Electric in its $1.54 billion acquisition by Quanta Services
Figma in its proposed $20 billion acquisition by Adobe (transaction mutually abandoned by both parties)
Symantec in the $10.7 billion sale of its enterprise security assets to Broadcom
Coinbase Global in its $1.1 billion convertible debt offering and Bill.com in its $1.4 billion convertible debt offering
CoreWeave in its $650 million and $642 million minority investment transactions and Metropolis Technologies Inc. in its $1.7 billion financing for its acquisition of SP Plus
A public company in complying with Tax Matters Agreement following a § 355 spin, including issuing several tax opinions

Morphic Holdings in its $3.2 billion acquisition by Eli Lilly
Smartsheet in its $8.4 billion acquisition by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners
Redfin in its pending $1.75 billion acquisition by Rocket Companies
Niantic in its pending $3.5 billion acquisition by Scopely and PIF
Cupertino Electric in its $1.54 billion acquisition by Quanta Services
Figma in its proposed $20 billion acquisition by Adobe (transaction mutually abandoned by both parties)
Symantec in the $10.7 billion sale of its enterprise security assets to Broadcom
Coinbase Global in its $1.1 billion convertible debt offering and Bill.com in its $1.4 billion convertible debt offering
CoreWeave in its $650 million and $642 million minority investment transactions and Metropolis Technologies Inc. in its $1.7 billion financing for its acquisition of SP Plus
A public company in complying with Tax Matters Agreement following a § 355 spin, including issuing several tax opinions

Representative Experience

Representative Experience

Chambers USA

Chambers USA