– Former Checkout.com COO and GC Joins Firm’s Corporate Practice –
PALO ALTO, CA (October 30, 2020) – Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Joshua Kaplan has joined the firm as a partner in the London office. He will be a member of the corporate practice.
Kaplan comes to the firm from Checkout.com—a leading global payment solution provider headquartered in London—where he served as its chief operating officer and general counsel since 2017. Wilson Sonsini represented Checkout.com in its June 2020 Series B and May 2019 Series A financings, as well as in other transactions.
“Wilson Sonsini continues to grow in London and add industry and practice depth in our areas of strength to meet the needs of our innovative clients in the UK and throughout Europe,” said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini. “Josh’s fintech industry experience and entrepreneurial spirit, combined with his business and legal acumen, will benefit our firm’s clients, and because of Josh’s prior role, he knows our London team well. We’re excited to welcome him to our firm.”
With Kaplan’s addition, Wilson Sonsini’s London office has grown to 13 attorneys. In September 2019, Stacy Kim joined the office as a partner. More recently, partner Michael Labriola relocated to the London office from Washington, D.C. The London office opened in August 2018, extending the firm’s practice into one of the world’s top technology markets. The office is located at 41 Old Street, in the heart of London’s technology community.
“Josh’s addition to our London office further demonstrates Wilson Sonsini’s commitment to supporting UK and European technology companies and investors—particularly as they look to compete and win in America,” said Daniel Glazer, founding partner of Wilson Sonsini’s London office and head of its U.S. expansion practice. “Josh’s in-house and industry expertise is attractive to the high-growth companies we represent, and the industries in which they do business.”
Prior to joining Checkout.com, Kaplan was a director in the global markets division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch from 2014 to 2016. Before that, he worked as a senior counsel at Credit Agricole, where he was head of regulatory affairs, from 2010 to 2013. Previously, he served as a vice president and counsel at Deutsche Bank from 2007 to 2009 and worked as an associate at the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in New York from 2006 to 2007. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney at the U.S. Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2006.
“I am delighted to join the talented team in Wilson Sonsini’s London office and to help build an expanding corporate practice with a focus on supporting UK and European fintech companies seeking to enter the U.S. market and raise capital from U.S. investors,” said Kaplan. “Fintech is a particularly dynamic industry and I am looking forward to working with companies and investors across the global fintech ecosystem as they develop new financial technologies to deliver value to the real economy.”
Kaplan received his M.B.A. from INSEAD in 2009, his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 2002, and his B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1998. He is admitted to practice in New York.
About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
For nearly 60 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com.