Baker, Joseph A.

Mick Bain is the partner-in-charge of the Waltham Office where he leads the WilmerHale Venture Group. He is also co-chair of the Emerging Company and Venture Capital practice group and the co-chair of WilmerHale Cleantech and Energy Group. He joined the firm in 1993.

Practice

WilmerHale Venture Group. Mr. Bain specializes in counseling entrepreneurs and emerging companies. He advises companies on formation and governance issues, equity and compensation matters, initial- through late-stage venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing and securities laws. Taking a practical business approach, Mr. Bain has helped his clients raise hundreds of millions of dollars in seed-stage and venture capital and has advised his clients through dozens of public offerings and acquisitions.

Mr. Bain has counseled companies in a broad range of industries, including software, telecommunications and wireless, storage, semiconductors, network security, consumer internet and web services, energy and clean tech, and life sciences. His current venture-backed clients include: 1366 Technologies, Aegis Semiconductor, Airwide Solutions, Aushon BioSystems, CarbonFlow, Casa Systems, Copanion, EM4, Laser Light Engines, Lattice Engines, Mears Technologies, MyPerfectGig, New Forma, North End Technologies, RatePoint, RedShift Systems, Rhythmia Medical, Tego and Viximo.

Cleantech and Energy Group. Mr. Bain is co-chair of WilmerHale’s Cleantech and Energy Group. Companies in the clean technology and energy space that he has represented include: 1366 Technologies, A123, Advanced Transportation Technologies, BioOils, CarbonFlow, Carbon Neutral, Great Bay Power, Houston Street, Khosla Ventures, Maglev Power and WebGen. Mr. Bain serves on the Innovation Task Force of the New England Clean Energy Council.

Other. Mr. Bain was previously associate general counsel of CMGI, Inc., where he advised CMGI and its subsidiaries with respect to a variety of domestic and international transactions, including venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions and international joint ventures in the US, Asia, Europe and South America.

Professional Activities

Mr. Bain is a frequent guest lecturer on entrepreneurship and corporate finance at MIT, Harvard Business School, Boston University and Babson College. 

Honors and Awards

• Recognized for his private equity: venture capital investment practice in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
• Named one of the Best Lawyers in America in the area of venture capital law (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and corporate law (2010, 2011 and 2012)
• Named a "New England Super Lawyer" (formerly "Massachusetts Super Lawyer") in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Named a "Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Star" in securities and venture finance in the May 2005 edition of Boston Magazine. 

Publications

• "Country Q&A United States," an article co-authored by Michael Bain and Phillip Rossetti published in the PLC Cross-border Private Equity Handbook 2010 Volume 2: Venture Capital.
• "Attorneys’ View: Tips On Bringing In VC funds," an article co-authored by Michael Bain and Joshua Fox published in Mass High Tech (May 1, 2009).
• "Country Q&A United States," an article co-authored by Philip Rossetti and Michael Bain published in the PLC Cross-border Private Equity Volume 2: Venture Capital Handbook 2009.
• "Convertible Debt Financing Is A Key Fund-Raising Tool," by Mick Bain and Joshua Fox, published in the Boston Business Journal, Banking/Financial Services Quarterly (September 12-18, 2008).
• “Don’t Overvalue Pre-Money Valuations”, TiECon East 2007.
• "Top Legal Mistakes Made by Early Stage Companies," Forum Focus (MIT Enterprise Forum's publication) (Winter 2004/05).
• "Early-stage Legal Errors," Mass High Tech, 2004 New England Technology Fast 50 Supplement (October 4, 2004).
• "Management Retention Plans Can Motivate in a Difficult Market," INDIA New England News (June 15, 2003).
• Co-author, annual Venture Capital Report of WilmerHale.