Robert S. Fore

Robert S. Fore

Partner
Robert S. Fore
Silicon Valley
+1 650 752 3158

Rob Fore is a partner in Goodwin's Private Investment Funds group. With over twenty years of experience in the field of fund formation and operations, Mr. Fore advises venture capital funds, buyout funds, funds-of-funds and other private equity funds and their management companies in connection with structuring, formation and operations. He also represents institutional investors in venture capital and private equity funds. Over the course of his career, Mr. Fore has participated in the formation of over 400 domestic and non-U.S. funds.

Mr. Fore's practice also includes representing venture capital funds and private equity funds in their investment activities and has extensive experience in venture capital financings. He also has experience with limited partnerships, limited liability companies, joint ventures, private placements and mergers and acquisitions.

Experience

Mr. Fore’s representative clients include:

  • Acorn Bioventures 
  • Cervin Ventures
  • Craft Ventures
  • Founders Circle Capital
  • Gotham Green Partners
  • Mobilitie, LLC
  • Pinnacle Ventures
  • Rembrandt Venture Partners
  • Revelation Healthcare Partners
  • Saints Capital
  • Tower Arch Capital
  • Translink Capital

Mr. Fore's deal experience includes the representation of:

  • Mobilitie in a transaction in connection with a sale to BAI (2021) 
  • Mobilitie in its $1.1 billion sale of cell tower assets to SBA Communications, a transaction recognized as The Deal Pipeline’s Deal of the Day (2012)
  • Various venture capital and private equity funds in direct investments into growth-stage companies

Professional Experience

Prior to joining Goodwin, Mr. Fore was the co-head of the Fund Services practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He joined WSGR from Banc of America Securities LLC, where he was an investment banker with the technology group focusing on corporate finance.

Mr. Fore also served for nearly eight years as the general counsel to a major bank's world-wide private equity and venture capital businesses. His practice focused on investments by the bank in private equity funds, direct investments in venture-backed companies, subordinated debt investments and equity investments in foreign companies. He began his legal career at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, where he concentrated on mergers and acquisitions, securities law and general corporate matters.

Credentials

Education

Masters of Business Admin1999

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

JD1988

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

(Order of the Coif, St. Thomas More Law Honor Society)

BS1985

University of Southern California

Admissions

Bars

  • California

Recognition & Awards

Mr. Fore was recognized for his work in Investment Funds: Venture Capital: Fund Formation by Chambers Global 2022. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America Best Lawyers and Lawyers of the Year for his work in Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law 2022-2023. Mr. Fore was named Lawyer of the Year – Private Funds/Hedge Funds Law (San Francisco) in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes only one lawyer for each specialty and location. He was also a 2021 recommended lawyer for Private Equity Funds (including Venture Capital) by The Legal 500. Mr. Fore has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Chambers USA 2021 for his work in Venture Capital Fund Formation and The Legal 500 US for his work in Venture Capital Fund Formation. He has also been selected in several leading publications recognizing outstanding practitioners, including US News-Best Lawyers and Northern California Super Lawyers. In 2017 Mr. Fore was named "Lawyer of the Year" for Private Funds / Hedge Funds Law in San Jose from Best Lawyers. For 16 consecutive years, Mr. Fore has been listed in “The International Who’s Who of Private Fund Lawyers” by Law Business Research (2003-present). He was an editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, while attending law school.

Publications

Mr. Fore is a frequent speaker at conferences on issues affecting private equity funds. His recent publications include:

  • Co-Author, “Limited Liability Company Agreement for General Partner/Management Company of a Fund,” a chapter in the third edition of Venture Capital & Public Offering Negotiation, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (2012)
  • Contributor, “Venture Fund Private Placement Memorandum,” a chapter in the third edition of Venture Capital & Public Offering Negotiation, Walters Kluwer Law & Business (2003)