John L. Cleary

John L. Cleary is a Partner in Dentons' New York office and a member of the Corporate practice and the Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies practice group. His primary practice area is Mergers and Acquisitions.

He is engaged in a diverse corporate practice representing both public and private companies, encompassing mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and securities transactions, as well as joint ventures, strategic alliances and general corporate representation. He is also active in advising privately held venture capital funds with respect to their organisational structure, the issuance of securities and investments in portfolio companies, having structured numerous funds with varying capital structures.

He works actively with emerging growth and other technology companies with respect to accessing capital from venture capital firms, investment banks and other sources of capital, as well as working closely with members of Dentons' Intellectual Property and Technology practice group with respect to the development, protection, commercialisation and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

He is also actively engaged in the surgeon community, representing surgeons and others in establishing, negotiating and enforcing development, royalty and similar arrangements with medical device manufacturers, co-developers, hospitals and research institutions.

He is a certified public accountant and holds a master's degree in taxation from New York University School of Law.

His representative transactions include representing ElectroCore, LLC, a medical device company focused on non-invasive electrical stimulation technologies, in a US$35 million Series A preferred unit financing led by Merck's Global Health Innovation Fund; representing LumenR, LLC, developer of the LumenR Tissue Retractor System, in its sale to Boston Scientific; and representing SpineCore, Inc., a medical device company in the spine arthroplasty market, in connection with its formation, angel financing, Series A preferred stock financing with Warburg Pincus and The Vertical Group, and its ultimate sale to Stryker Corporation for US$380 million.

He also represented Circulite, Inc., a cardiovascular device company, in connection with intellectual property matters and its US$33 million Series C and US$40 million Series D preferred stock financings; represented a developer of medical devices used in orthopaedic procedures in connection with a successful patent infringement and breach of contract litigation against one of the world's leading medical device manufacturers; and represented numerous venture capital funds, including NEA, Pequot Ventures, Canaan Partners, Rho Ventures, DFJ Gotham, NewSpring Capital, Edison Venture Fund and Updata Partners, in connection with their venture capital investments.

Other matters include representing Bausch & Lomb in connection with a US$300 million global commercialisation, manufacturing and development agreement in the eye-care space; representing a venture-backed medical device company in the musculoskeletal space in connection with a manufacturing, supply and distribution agreement with a leading global medical device manufacturer; representing Orthocon, Inc. in connection with its US$10 million Series A and US$25 million Series B preferred stock financings; and representing Forest Labs in connection with its US$240 million asset sale, supply and distribution agreements with Merck relating to its Saphris product.

He also represented Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures and Hudson Venture Partners in connection with their US$3.8 million Series A preferred stock investment in Pivot Solutions, Inc.; represented Incurrent Solutions, Inc. in connection with its sale to Online Resources Corporation for US$15 million in cash and stock; and represented Atlantic Venture Partners in the formation of a US$50 million early-stage venture capital fund, which joined with Draper Fisher Jurvetson to form Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Venture Fund, a US$100 million fund.

His recognition includes being ranked in Chambers USA, Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions, New Jersey (2009–2022) and listed in Best Lawyers in America, Venture Capital Law (2013–present).

He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Spine Arthroplasty Society (SAS) and the New Jersey Technology Council.

He holds an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law (1995), a JD from Columbus School of Law, The Catholic University of America (1991), where he was Note and Comment Editor of the Catholic University Law Review, and a BS and BA, magna cum laude, from Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University (1987).