Alison Johnson
Corporate Partner
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
“Straight answers, deals that close.”
I'm Alison — a corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and I spend my days helping emerging companies, founders, and investors navigate the deals that shape a company's future. My practice covers formation, venture financings, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and corporate governance. I've been fortunate to work with clients from first-check startups to national companies across SaaS, e-commerce, biotech, and agtech.
I also represent venture funds and angel investors, which means I regularly sit on both sides of the table and know how each side thinks. My clients don't get a memo three days later — they get a direct answer, a clear path forward, and someone who picks up the phone when the stakes are high.
My specialties
My service area
the Mountain West
Boise, Idaho · Salt Lake City, Utah
Based in the Mountain West with the reach of a national firm behind every deal.
500+
financings and M&A deals closed
Corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini · Ranked in Chambers USA for 10 years
PURPOSE
Who I help & how I do it
I built my practice around founders and funds who need judgment fast. I work with people who are raising, selling, buying, or governing a company — and who don't have time to read a twelve-page memo before making a call.
What I help you avoid
- Cap table and equity mistakes that surface in diligence and cut your price.
- Missing IP assignments from early founders or contractors.
- Board consents and 409A hygiene that stall a financing at the worst moment.
- Signing a term sheet or LOI before anyone reads the terms that actually bind you.
How I help clients
- Formation & founder setup
- Venture financings
- Mergers & acquisitions
- Corporate governance
- Investor-side representation
- Second-opinion reviews
Products I place
Industries I serve
Specialties
Who I help
Founders & emerging companies
Pre-seed through growth stage, in SaaS, e-commerce, biotech, agtech, and consumer products.
Company boards & executives
Boards navigating governance, option grants, fiduciary questions, and preparing for a transaction.
Venture funds & angel investors
Investors who need diligence, investment documents, and terms negotiated without theatrics.
First-time raisers
Founders looking at their first SAFE or term sheet who want plain answers instead of a lecture.
What makes me different
Both sides of the table
Representing funds and founders means I know which terms the other side will actually trade.
Mountain West based
Boise and Salt Lake City based, with the reach of a national firm behind every deal.
Plain English
I explain a liquidation preference the way I'd explain it to a friend, before you sign it.
No busywork billing
Short questions get short answers. I'd rather you call early than clean up later.
How I do it
I read the whole deal
Term sheet, side letters, and the documents nobody circulates — the risk usually lives in the last three.
I translate the fine print
You get a clear breakdown of what's market, what's aggressive, and what's worth walking away from.
I answer my phone
Deals move in hours. You reach me directly, not a staffing queue.
I keep you financeable
Clean minutes, clean cap table, clean IP chain — so diligence is boring when it finally arrives.
If you see yourself in one of these groups, the next step is a 30-minute call. No engagement letter required to ask a question.
Credentials
Licensed & experienced
19
Years in the business
ISB #7684
Admitted in Idaho & California
By the numbers
- 500+Financings and M&A deals closed
- 10 yrsRanked in Chambers USA, Corporate/Commercial
- 24 hrsTypical turnaround on a term sheet review
The path here
2006
Began practice as a corporate associate in Wilson Sonsini's Palo Alto office.
2010
Joined Holland & Hart; made partner in 2016.
2017
Named firmwide chair of the food, beverage, and consumer products industry group; first Chambers ranking.
2021
Rejoined Wilson Sonsini as a corporate partner, helping launch the Salt Lake City office while practicing from Boise.
Education
J.D., magna cum laude — Order of the Coif
Santa Clara University School of Law · 2006
Articles Editor, Santa Clara Law Review
Santa Clara University School of Law · 2005
B.A., Philosophy, summa cum laude
Santa Clara University · 2003
Designations & affiliations
Chambers USA, Corporate/Commercial — Idaho, 2017-2026
Rising Star, Mergers & Acquisitions — Mountain States Super Lawyers, 2018
Idaho Women Lawyers Innovator Award, 2017
Admissions and standing are verifiable through the Idaho State Bar and the State Bar of California. Continuing legal education is maintained above the Idaho minimum, supplemented by Wilson Sonsini's internal emerging-companies programs.
Beyond the office
The person behind the deals
The short version of the person behind the deal documents — placeholder copy for now, so send me your real details and I'll swap them in.
My background
I grew up in the Bay Area and went to Santa Clara for both philosophy and law — which is a long way of saying I like arguments that are actually structured. I started at Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto, moved to Boise for the mountains and stayed for the founders, and came back to the firm as a partner in 2021.
- B.A. Philosophy, summa cum laude, Santa Clara University
- J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Santa Clara Law
- Began practice in Wilson Sonsini's Palo Alto office
- Firmwide chair of a food, beverage & consumer products practice, 2017-2021
- Rejoined Wilson Sonsini as a corporate partner in 2021
About my family
My husband and I have two kids and a dog with strong opinions about the trailhead schedule. Most weeknights involve homework, a very loud kitchen, and at least one call I said I wouldn't take.
Favorite things to do
- Trail running in the Boise foothills
- Skiing at Bogus Basin with the kids
- Anything on the Boise River in July
- Reading founder memoirs, mostly for the cautionary tales
- Cold brew and a long, unstructured Saturday morning
Volunteer work & community
Idaho Technology Council
Board of Trustees member since 2015 and co-chair of the Capital Connect Conference.
Women Innovators (W.IN)
Leadership board member supporting women building and funding companies in the region.
Boise Startup Week
Annual panelist and moderator on ecosystem, fundraising, and early-stage legal topics.
Founder office hours
Quarterly no-charge sessions for first-time founders working through formation and fundraising.
Causes I'm passionate about
If any of that overlaps with your world, we'll have plenty to talk about before we ever get to an engagement letter.
Client reviews
What clients say
4.9 · 84 reviews
Most of my work comes from founders and investors passing my name along. Here is what a few of them had to say after we closed.
Featured client story
“Alison sat with our founding team and walked through every line of the term sheet. For the first time, we actually understood what we were agreeing to.”
Marisa T. · Boise, ID
4.9
Average client rating across 84 reviews
10 yrs
Ranked in Chambers USA, Corporate/Commercial
<24 hrs
Typical turnaround on an urgent deal question
“She got our Series A signed in eleven days without a single fire drill.”
Marisa T. · Boise, ID
“Told me which terms to fight and which to let go. That saved the relationship with our lead.”
Devon R. · Salt Lake City, UT
“First lawyer who told me what I didn't need to spend money on.”
Priya S. · Palo Alto, CA
“Found an unassigned IP problem from a 2019 contractor before the buyer's diligence did. That alone paid for the deal.”
Alan W. · Bend, OR
“No jargon, no posturing. She walked our whole board through the governance changes until everyone actually understood them.”
Kelsey M. · Boise, ID
Know a founder who needs a straight answer?
If a founder, operator, or investor you know is staring at a term sheet, an LOI, or a messy cap table, send them my card. The first conversation costs nothing.
My company
Wilson Sonsini
Company purpose
The premier legal partner to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has represented companies and investors at the center of innovation for more than sixty years — from garage-stage startups to public companies. The firm pairs deep transactional experience with the litigation, IP, regulatory, and tax teams a growth company eventually needs.
Products & services
Emerging companies & venture capital
Formation, equity, SAFEs, priced rounds, and everything between the first check and the exit.
Mergers & acquisitions
Sell-side, buy-side, and strategic combinations across technology and life sciences.
Corporate governance
Board practice, fiduciary counseling, and public-company readiness.
Capital markets & IPOs
One of the most active IPO practices in the country, plus follow-ons and convertible debt.
Intellectual property
Patent, trademark, and technology transactions that protect the asset you're actually selling.
Litigation & regulatory
Antitrust, securities, privacy, and national security counsel when growth attracts attention.
What makes us different
Built for innovators
Sixty years advising technology and life sciences companies — the firm helped write the playbook for venture financing.
Full lifecycle
Formation through IPO or acquisition, without handing you off to a different firm at each stage.
Investor fluency
The firm represents both funds and founders, so its deal teams know what the other side will push on.
Local presence, national reach
Offices across the U.S. and abroad, with partners on the ground in the Mountain West.
Benefits of working with us
Speed
Deal teams that move at the pace of a financing, not a billing cycle.
Judgment
Market terms informed by thousands of deals a year.
Clarity
Plain-English explanations before you sign anything.
Continuity
The same partner from seed round through exit.
Client portal
Access the client resource portal
Term sheet generators, financing document libraries, and market data from Wilson Sonsini's Neuron and Deal Elements tools.
Open PortalWarranty
How Alison works
Clients are told plainly which terms are worth negotiating and which are not, and are advised against deals that shouldn't close. Short questions are answered without a bill.
Special offer
Founder office hours
Thirty minutes, no charge, no engagement required: bring a term sheet, a cap table, or a co-founder question and get a straight read on it.
Book office hoursMy network
People & companies I trust
Vetted local pros, grouped by what you need. Tap a card to see their contact info and how to redeem their offer. I don't take referral fees from anyone on this list. After you connect,
Browse by category
Featured people I recommend
Ridgeline Ventures
Marcus Webb
Seed & Series A, B2B software
Writes $500K-$2M first checks and moves fast when the thesis fits.
Mention my name for a direct partner intro instead of the general inbox.
Halvorsen CFO Group
Rick Halvorsen
Fractional CFO & financial modeling
Builds the model investors ask for, not the one you already have.
Rick will sanity-check a fundraising model free for my clients.
Lindstrom IP
Bev Lindstrom
Patent prosecution, life sciences
Files claims that survive diligence and, eventually, litigation.
Free patentability screen for companies I send over.
My network
Associations & memberships
Bar memberships and industry groups that keep me current, accountable, and connected to the founders and funders in this region.
Idaho Technology Council
Member, Board of Trustees, 2015-present
Statewide organization connecting technology companies, investors, and talent.
Capital Connect Conference
Co-chair, 2015-present
Idaho's annual conference pairing growth companies with regional and national investors.
Women Innovators
Leadership board member, 2018-present
Community supporting women founders, operators, and investors across the Mountain West.
State Bar of Idaho
Member in good standing
Licensing, ethics, and continuing legal education for Idaho practice.
Membership isn't a credential on its own — but it's how I see term trends before they show up in your round.
Contact
Contact Alison
I'm glad you're here. Whether you want to book a call, send a quick note, or save my card for later, it's all one tap away.
Please include your company name, where you are in the deal, and your timeline.
Mon-Fri, 8:00a - 6:00p MT
Quick actions
Contact
Contact Wilson Sonsini
For firm matters that don't need me directly, reach out to Wilson Sonsini. The firm handles:
- Billing, invoices, or payment questions
- Records, document retrieval, or closing binders
- New matter intake, conflicts checks, or general firm inquiries
What to include
Include your name, company, question or request, and how we can reach you. Most non-urgent requests are handled within one business day.
Mon-Fri, 8:00a - 5:00p PT
Office locations
Wilson Sonsini has offices across the U.S. and abroad. Visit the website for a full list of locations and directions.
Resources
Resources to Share
Curated, client-ready materials I can send to founders, investors, and boards — no billable clock required.
Firm materials
Approved and maintained by Wilson Sonsini.
By me
Written or compiled for my network and clients.
Resources
Resources for me
Capture a new contact in the moment — scan a card, record the meeting, or jot notes — then push it straight into the CRM.
Open firm CRMFull contact records, matter pipeline, and activity history.Capture
Placeholder CRM link — swap in your real portal URL.
Internal tools, firm workflows, and capture shortcuts I use to keep my practice moving.
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My own tools
Built and maintained by me.
Firm-administered
Centrally produced and kept current by the firm.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
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