Donna Brooks counsels clients in diverse industries, including healthcare, bioscience, agri-business, technology, services and manufacturing. Her clients include emerging growth companies and middle market companies, including cooperatives and public companies. Donna assists her clients "in the business of doing business." She provides practical advice with respect to business organization, business operations and contracting, corporate governance, asset management, finance, capital raising, private and public securities offerings, equity compensation, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. Donna also assists development stage companies with research and development agreements, including sponsored research and consulting agreements with universities and their faculty and technology transfer offices. Donna also assists companies with both federal and state securities laws compliance and with the preparation and filing of SEC periodic reports, registration statements, Section 16 stock ownership reports and proxy materials.
In addition to being a business counselor, Donna represents institutional investors, venture capital funds, mezzanine funds and other private investment funds, as well as governmental and quasi-governmental lenders. Donna has assisted private investment funds in making numerous portfolio investments in diverse industries, including retail and consumer goods, manufacturing and health services. She has also assisted with the structure and administration of the funding of stem cell initiatives in Connecticut. She also represents institutional investors in making alternative investments with varying investment objectives, which have included channel finance, credit default obligations, low-income housing and historic rehabilitation tax credits and real estate, both in the United States and internationally. She has also assisted various endowments in vetting and engaging investment managers.
Distinctions
· BV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
· Listed as a Connecticut Super Lawyer®: Securities & Corporate Finance; 2006, 2008-2010
· Appointed Member, Securities Advisory Council and Hedge Fund Subcommittee, Connecticut Department of Banking
· Past Appointed Member, Business Advisory Committee, Connecticut Secretary of the State
Professional Affiliations
· Connecticut Venture Group, Hartford Chapter
· Crossroads Venture Fair: Mentor, Start-up Companies
· Alliance for Connecticut Technology - Technology Summit
· Connecticut United for Research Excellence, Inc. (CURE): Member
· American Bar Association
· Connecticut Bar Association
· Hartford County Bar Association
Experience
Corporate Counsel
General Counsel - CyVek, Inc.
Major Regional Dairy Cooperative
Manufacturer of Precision Engine Components
Provider of Smart Grid Communications Platform
Provider of health Care Data Research and Management
Representation of Leading Architectural Firm
Other
Roll-up of National Home Health Care Company
Family of Private Equity Funds
Major Insurance Company
Quasi-Public Agencies and State Investment Funds
Publications
January 25, 2012, Crowdfunding and Other Recent Capital-Raising Initiatives for Startup Companies
January 20, 2012, Connecticut Hedge Funds Targeted In Insider Trading Probes
February 25, 2011, SEC Adopts New Part 2 of Form ADV: Disclosure Requirements for SEC and Connecticut Registered Investment Advisers
August 5, 2010, SEC Adopts Prohibitions Against Investment Adviser Pay-To-Play Practices
July 19, 2010, Health Care Reform Impact On The Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Industries
February 9, 2010, Amendments to the Custody Rule: New Controls on Custody of Client Assets
August 17, 2009, SEC Proposes Prohibitions Against Investment Adviser Pay-to-Play Practices
June 12, 2009, Connecticut Hedge Fund Regulation Dies at the End of the 2009 Session
October 17, 2008, Is "Green" The New Gold Standard?
June 27, 2008, Energy, Evaluation, Efficiency, Economy
First Quarter 2007, Hedge Fund Regulation Redux
Fourth Quarter 2006, Congress Acts On Bank Brokerage Services
Third Quarter 2006, SEC Regulation of Hedge Fund Advisers Struck Down
Second Quarter 2006, SEC Rejects Small Company Exemption from Section 404 Internal Control Requirements
March 31, 2006, Soaring Energy Costs: Opportunities for Consumers and Entrepreneurs
October 2005, Connecticut Climate Ripe for Energy Technology Investment
Third Quarter 2005, Mezzanine Finance - How's the View from the Middle?
Third Quarter 2004, The Elevator Pitch: Reeling in Venture Capital Financing
Fourth Quarter 2003, Finders: Friend or Foe of Issuers?
News
October 27, 2009, Shipman & Goodwin Attorneys Named 2010 Connecticut Super Lawyers & Rising Stars
July 29, 2009, Attorneys John Kreitler and Donna Brooks are Serving as Judges for the Connecticut Technology Council's 2009 Innovation Pipeline Accelerator (IPA) Annual Awards
March 2, 2009, Shipman & Goodwin Attorneys Named 2009 Connecticut Super Lawyers & Rising Stars and Featured in Connecticut Magazine
November 7, 2008, Shipman & Goodwin Attorneys Named 2009 Connecticut Super Lawyers & Rising Stars
April 25, 2008, Attorneys Named By Super Lawyers®
February 1, 2006, Thirty-Five Shipman & Goodwin Attorneys Named Connecticut "Super Lawyers®"
Events
March 13, 2012, Central Connecticut State University Elevator Pitch Contest
January 18, 2012, Winter 2012 Northeast Private Equity Conference
October 27, 2011, Connecticut Technology Council Innovation Pipeline Awards
September 20, 2011, Life's A Pitch
May 4, 2010, "Life's A Pitch" Brown Bag Lunch Seminar at CTech at Science Park
April 20, 2010, Crossroads Venture Fair Bootcamp
October 15, 2009, The Elevator Pitch
October 23, 2008, The State of Connecticut Department of Banking Securities Forum 2008
April 17, 2008, Connecticut Bootcamp Venture Enterprises
April 18, 2007, Connecticut Bootcamp Venture Enterprises
February 12, 2007, Venture Capital 101: Making the Pitch and Making the Deal
October 19, 2006, Alliance for Connecticut Technology 3rd Annual Innovation Day and Award Dinner
May 2-3, 2006, Connecticut Venture Group Crossroads Venture Fair
March 21, 2006, Connecticut Venture Group Business Financing Fair
October 11, 2005, Financing Made Easy - More or Less
September 28, 2005, Alliance for Connecticut Technology Innovation Fair
October 26, 2004, Is Going Public in Your Future? Or, Why Should You Care About Sarbanes-Oxley?
October 27, 2003, Finders: Friend or Foe of Issuers?
October 7, 2002, Corporate Finance in Today's Market: Is Venture Capital for You?
February 26, 2002, Nuts & Bolts: Follow-on Rounds in Today's Market
October 25, 1999, Structured Private Placements Under Rule 506
Liquidation - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"