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Joshua E. French

Partner

Joshua French focuses on advising clients in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity finance, corporate governance, business succession planning, and other general corporate matters. He additionally serves as the outside general counsel to numerous clients in all stages of their business life cycle. Josh has a long history advising privately held emerging and middle-market companies, as well as family-owned and generational businesses, on navigating corporate formation, succession planning, fundraising, and liquidity events.

Josh also works closely with senior management at companies in a wide range of industries to solve complex business challenges. Additionally, he serves as lead counsel to venture capital investors in connection with venture and growth equity investments in operating companies as well as the management of such investors’ portfolio companies.

Beyond his private practice, Josh is an active member of the community, serving as a committee member for the National MS Society’s annual Climb to the Top fundraiser and as a mentor and judge for various law school competitions and business incubators.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Josh was a partner at another US law firm.

  • Represented a global, full-service contract research organization dedicated to providing a complete range of central nervous system drug and device development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology industries in its recapitalization by a healthcare services-focused private equity firm
  • Represented a building products company in its sale to a distributor of roofing materials and complementary building products in the United States and Canada
  • Represented a provider of eSource and other eClinical technologies in a significant investment from a private equity firm
  • Represented a health economics and outcomes research provider for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries in its sale to a private equity-backed pharmaceutical and life sciences platform company
  • Represented a leading multispecialty clinical research center in connection with its acquisition by a clinical trial site network
  • Represented a venture capital firm in over 30 investments in transformative fintech companies with an aggregate deal value approximating $80 million
  • Represented a multinational semiconductor company in the sale of its CATV amplifier business to a manufacturer of radio frequency, intermediate frequency, and microwave components
  • Represented a building supply company in its acquisition a Denver-based building products distribution platform
  • Advised privately held in vivo antibody discovery services company in connection with its acquisition by a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology
  • Represented a company that develops, produces, and markets yeast, bacteria, and specialty ingredients in the acquisition of a leading supplier of fermentation and filtration products in the wine and specialty beverage industry
  • Represented a clinical research organization providing early phase clinical development services to the biotechnology industry in its private equity-led recapitalization
  • Represented a leading provider of geographic data science and predictive, location-based analytics to an information services provider
  • Represented a general contractor for trade shows and corporate events in its financing with a mezzanine fund
  • Represented a leading provider of project management services in New England in connection with its acquisition by a strategic partner
  • Represented a leading single-source provider of fluid handling solutions for high-purity applications in connection with its acquisition by a distributor of laboratory products
  • Represented a developer of scheduling and optimization software for an adaptive ecosystem for high-performance and cloud computing systems in connection with a variety of general corporate matters and financings, and its sale to an enterprise software company
  • Represented a subsidiary of a leading private equity-backed UK travel service in its negotiation of a major credit facility with Barclays Bank
  • Represented a provider of nanocrystalline calcium phosphate-based biomaterials that promote the repair and regeneration of damaged bone in its $60 million acquisition by a leading medical devices company
  • Advised an electrical company in its acquisition by a private equity-backed leader in the utilities industry
  • Represented a provider of water hauling, disposal, and acid services for oil and gas exploration and production companies in its $50 million sale to a publicly traded closed-end investment company
  • Boston College Law School, 2008, J.D., magna cum laude
  • Duke University, 2005, B.A., public policy studies
  • Massachusetts

Board member, co-chair of the Summit Committee, Exit Planning Exchange

Committee member, Climb to the Top, National MS Society

Member, USA 500 Clubs