Bio

Working out of the firm’s Seattle and Salt Lake City offices, Gregory Watts is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he focuses on securities and complex commercial litigation. For 25 years, Greg has specialized in counseling and defending companies and their directors and officers in securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions, contested mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters, SEC investigations and enforcement proceedings, and internal investigations. Greg co-authored Director and Officer Liability, 3rd Ed., published by the Practising Law Institute (PLI). Greg has represented clients in over 125 securities, shareholder, and corporate governance matters. He has had exceptional success in winning securities class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits, including most recently for Blucora, Costco Wholesale, Domo, eHealth, Fennec Pharmaceuticals, Globus Medical, Isoray, Mentor Graphics, Novan, PowerSecure International, Seagen, Starbucks, and Sterling Financial. Due to his expertise, Greg has represented clients around the country in federal and state courts, including in Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Greg has extensive experience defending companies and individuals in connection with SEC investigations, including those involving financial reporting and accounting fraud allegations, disclosure issues, and potential insider trading violations. In SEC matters, he has represented clients at every stage—from the inception of an SEC inquiry through the Wells Notice (the point at which the SEC enforcement staff recommends the initiation of a lawsuit) to bench and jury trials. Greg frequently conducts board, audit committee, and special committee internal investigations. These investigations often are time sensitive, complex, and/or involve highly confidential corporate information, and Greg prides himself on working with board members and outside auditors to develop cost-effective investigation procedures.