Bio

Gemma Descoteaux is a founding partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Dallas office and is also a member of the firm's Compensation Committee. Gemma is the mergers and acquisitions lawyer of choice for buyers and sellers in today’s most active global industries: Technology, private equity, media, health care and transportation. She is known for both her vision and diligence in shaping a deal, always keeping the desired and most advantageous result in mind. Appreciated and respected by her clients, opposing counsel and the parties on the other side, Gemma has encyclopedic understanding of the industries she serves, as well as the financing, regulatory and market drivers that potentially add complexity and cost to the structure and outcome. Her approach is both practical and considerate. Her business acumen and easy communication with c-suite executives, in-house counsel, boards of directors, investors and investment bankers comes from Gemma’s more than 30 years of real-world experience, as well as her time working in-house at several companies. At Olin Corporation she negotiated and drafted commercial agreements, managed a large inter-disciplinary team and coordinated acquisition integration related matters. And as a contract negotiator on the business side at Texas Instruments, she negotiated complex defense systems and electronics joint venture agreements, advanced development agreements, and intermediate and high-volume production contracts. Gemma also worked at EXE Technologies, where she provided commercial and IPO counsel and did work on a seconded basis for two outsourcing giants, Computer Sciences Corporation, where she managed the company's M&A matters and negotiated strategic alliances, and ACS, where she handled securities and board governance matters and negotiated M&A transactions. Gemma is also a passionate advocate and board volunteer for various non-profit organizations, including the past President of the DFW Association for Corporate Growth (DFW ACG) and the University of Texas Center for Women in Law.