Overview
Albert (Al) L. Sokol has 40 years of experience representing a variety of large, medium and small life sciences and technology companies, often in multinational transactions. Types of work include venture capital and private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, general corporate counseling, strategic alliances, executive compensation, licenses, collaborations, intellectual property matters, litigation, and other types of assistance.
After attending Yale University, Al lived abroad for four years, principally in Lusaka, Zambia, organizing, financing and operating a micro-credit company, primarily as an executive of the national Credit Union Association of Zambia.
While in law school, Al was an editor for the Boston University Law Review.
Results
- Merger between two UK and US flu vaccine companies, and then a venture capital financing, on behalf of venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds in Sweden, France, United Kingdom and Switzerland
- Merger between a large Japanese pharma and our client, a US biotechnology company, for several hundred million dollars. Our client developed therapeutics for central nervous system conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and during its eight years of development and growth, we assisted with a reverse merger, two score VC closings with investors from three countries, and all aspects of its operations and growth
- Strategic alliance between our client, an EU company, and a US VC firm and a US biotech company, involving the EU company’s spin-off of IP into the biotech company, coupled with the VC financing of the biotech company
- VC investment in a new US biotech company (total syndicate financing $270 million), for and following our EU client’s license to that company of the US intellectual property (IP) rights to a narcolepsy therapeutic
- Spinoff from a major New England research university of IP for developing therapeutics that target antibiotic-resistant bacteria, followed by various VC investments, on behalf of several private and corporate VC funds from three countries
- Scores of VC transactions for multiple private and corporate biotech venture capital funds from the United States and abroad
- Spin-off from a major research university in Texas, and VC financing, crossover financing and initial public offering (IPO) preparations relating to engineered human enzymes that can be used as therapeutics for cancers and certain inborn errors of human metabolism, on behalf of two corporate VC funds
- Innovative structuring for optimizing financing, growth and exit strategies for three venture-funded, platform IP, biotechnology companies, including transitioning from a single C corporation to a company group owned by a limited liability company parent
- VC financing and general representation of one of the world’s first commercial, in vitro fertilization companies
- Buy-side M&A work relating to cell culture media and to vaccine product IP in four US states, United States, Sweden and Australia, for an Australian pharmaceutical company
- VC financing for a US biotech company with an oncology pipeline, which was spun off from a major university in New York
- Both a VC financing and, also separately, a venture loan financing, for a US software company in the IT cybersecurity industry
- Investment and commercial arrangements with US kidney dialysis company, for a Japanese dialysis and health products company
- Big-data software work, such as for an EU/US company (especially patent prosecution and licensing), for optimizing the assessment of clinical trial data; and for a Swedish company (both buy-side and sell-side M&A, and also major licensing transactions) for optimizing complex, real-time resource allocations for geographically-distributed operations (e.g., for airlines and railroads)
- Spinoff of a legged robotics company from a major New England university, general representation over 20+ years, and then sale to a large, brand-name technology company
- Decades of general representation for an EU enterprise software company having US operations, involving buy-side M&A, licensing, corporate, real estate, executive compensation and other issues
- Multiple acquisitions in the US Northeast and Midwest for a PE-funded, Swedish printed circuit board company
- Merger by a German telecom equipment company (making digital signal processing (DSP) solutions for high-speed optical transmission applications) with a large, brand-name technology company, preceded by many VC financings and debt financings by VC and PE investors from three countries
- Many financings (VC, IPO, PIPEs, registered direct and ATM), governmentally guaranteed loan, board and stockholder corporate governance, litigation, licensing and patent prosecution, executive comp, etc. for a public cleantech company whose composite flywheels targeted electric grid stabilization
Recognitions
- The Legal 500 Untied States, 2019
- Practical Law Company, Recommended for M&A and Corporate Transactions
- Law & Politics, Super Lawyer
- Boston Magazine, Securities & Venture Finance
Community
- Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, member
- Chambers of Commerce of France, Australia, Germany, Sweden, UK, member
Credentials
Education
Boston University School of Law, JD, 1977
Yale University, BA, 1970
Admissions
Massachusetts