Our Team

Noam Cohen

Noam Cohen - Founding Partner

Noam Cohen’s practice focuses on companies in all stages of development. She has broad transactional experience advising emerging growth companies and more established technology companies in various areas. This includes formations and restructurings, equity and debt financings, strategic partnerships, and M&A.
She has also represented venture capital firms and leading investment banks in both private and public financings.

Prior to CGL, Noam worked in the Silicon Valley office of Goodwin Procter LLP.

Hannah Genton

Hannah Genton - Founding Partner

Hannah Genton is passionate about addressing the challenges of high-growth startups, mid to late-stage companies, and the investors that fund them. Her practice covers a broad range of corporate matters ranging from day-to-day legal governance issues to negotiating strategic transactions for companies in various stages of development. She has represented both companies and investors in venture capital financings, debt financings, and buyers and sellers in M&A transactions.

Prior to CGL, Hannah worked in the Silicon Valley office of Cooley LLP.

Jessica Edwards

Jessica Edwards - Of Counsel

Jessica Edwards is a Of Counsel at CGL. As Corporate Counsel, Jessica advises clients on various corporate and capital markets transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings and asset acquisitions. From the bid process and initial due diligence to drafting and negotiating transaction documents and navigating regulatory approval when needed, Jessica’s experience covers all stages of the transaction process. In addition to her transactional practice, Jessica also assists clients with general corporate, securities and business matters, including entity selection, formation, fiduciary obligations, federal (’34 Act) and state securities reporting and compliance, joint ventures, partnership agreements and financing arrangements.

Prior to joining CGL, Jessica practiced at Bracewell LLP as a corporate and capital markets associate and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. While at Bracewell and Wilson, Jessica counseled clients of all sizes, from startups to seasoned issuers, primarily in the banking, financial services, energy, healthcare and technology industries.

Jessica Clark

Jessica Clark - Of Counsel

Jessica Clark is Of Counsel at CGL, where she specializes in advising technology-driven clients on privacy, data security, and intellectual property matters. She helps clients identify and manage privacy and security risk; comply with state, federal, and global data protection laws; and develop and implement internal privacy and security compliance programs (including programs tailored for the CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, and COPPA). She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating privacy and IP terms in commercial contracts; counseling clients on privacy and IP implications in M&A and financing transactions; and advising clients on business strategy, marketing, and vendor management including strategies to effectively secure and capitalize on valuable IP rights. Among other things, she works with clients to prepare and negotiate employment and consulting agreements, IP license agreements, product development agreements, and asset purchase agreements.

Prior to joining CGL, Jessica spent six years working at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)  in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, where she led numerous investigations and negotiated settlements relating to consumer privacy, data security, and credit reporting. She obtained her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Christine Gaudet

Christine Gaudet - Director of Operations

As part of the internal operations team, Christine supports the firm by overseeing a full range of business functions and working with the executive team to develop processes that can accommodate growth. Christine has worked in legal operations since 2016 and is an active member of the Association of Legal Administrators on the national and state levels. With a background in management and training, she is passionate about guiding teams to success through collaboration and strategic planning.

Heather B. Johnston - Commercial Counsel

Heather Johnston is a Commercial Attorney with CGL. Heather works with a broad range of clients from early-stage startups to large public companies. She has worked with clients across a wide spectrum of industries, including technology, cybersecurity, advertising, and manufacturing. Heather advises on and negotiates all types of commercial transactions, including, by way of example, SaaS agreements, software licensing, distribution agreements, professional services and consulting agreements, marketing agreements, contract manufacturing agreements, and all matters related to procurement.

Further, Heather provides advice and guidance to product teams about legal issues related to new product and service developments. She has been working in the commercial transactions space for over 14 years. Heather is well- respected for pinpointing key issues and delivering holistic solutions that address the entire business context and balance the needs and perspectives of all relevant parties.

Prior to CGL, Heather worked in the capacity of general counsel for a large, publicly traded company covering an international business unit and North America. She started her legal career at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and O’Melveny & Myers.

Jo-Nell Labbieneti - Commercial Counsel

Jo-Nell is a commercial counsel at CGL. She is a corporate and commercial generalist and focuses on drafting, reviewing and negotiating all manner of commercial agreements, including incoming and outgoing technology licensing, SaaS, DaaS and XaaS agreements, channel and partnership agreements, procurement agreements, employee-related agreements, and real and personal property leases for large and small information, data mining and technology companies.

Prior to joining CGL, Jo-Nell held various executive in-house legal positions in both large, well-known corporations and small startups, where she created contracting process improvements that substantially decreased contract execution time and increased customer satisfaction. She especially enjoys finding and implementing efficiencies in legal department processes and procedures. Jo-Nell currently resides in Palm Desert. She was born and raised on the shore of Connecticut, where she still returns every summer.

Darren Kerstien - Corporate Counsel

Darren Kerstien concentrates on mergers and acquisitions, startup company advising, venture capital financings and general corporate and securities law. Over the course of his career, Darren has represented clients in a wide range of industries including technology, life sciences, professional services, hospitality, energy, consumer/retail, and sports.

His experience ranges from advising startup companies about formation, venture financings and M&A to representing public companies with strategic transactions, SEC compliance and corporate governance matters. Darren also has extensive experience representing buyers and sellers in negotiating and closing transactions for public and private companies, including domestic and cross-border mergers, stock and asset acquisitions, joint ventures and restructurings.

Prior to joining CGL, Darren was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity practice groups at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP and most recently practiced at DLA Piper LLP (US) in the Emerging Growth/Venture Capital and Mergers & Acquisitions practice groups.

Darren and his wife relocated to the Seattle area during COVID to build a family compound of sorts with his in-laws, nephews, 20 chickens and 2 dogs. Outside of work, he loves exploring wild spaces, playing the drums and building his dog training skills.

Mara Vento - Corporate Counsel

Mara focuses on venture capital and emerging growth companies. She advises
technology, life science and consumer companies in connection with various corporate
matters and venture capital financings. She also regularly handles formations,
corporate governance issues and other general corporate and securities matters
related to mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

Mara is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Italy and has represented numerous Italian
companies and individuals investing and conducting business in the U.S.

Prior to joining CGL, Mara practiced at Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP as a
managing associate in the firm’s Technology Companies Group and McCarter & English
LLP as an emerging companies and venture capital associate. While at Orrick and
McCarter, Mara represented numerous startups and venture capital funds in equity and
debt financings.

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