Martin Korman

Martin Korman is a corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the technology and growth-company law firm, where he is one of the country's most prominent mergers and acquisitions attorneys. Based in California, he and the firm's M&A practice have been recognised with the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 “M&A Law Firm of the Year in California, US”.

A leading M&A practitioner

Martin Korman has been a corporate partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for more than twenty-five years and is a member of the firm's board of directors. Working with investors, boards and management teams, he helps companies and investors navigate significant mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions and corporate governance matters. He is recognised as one of the nation's most prominent M&A lawyers, with particular strength in the technology sector, where he represents both public and private companies in purchase and sale transactions.

His practice extends across the private equity landscape as well. He works closely with private equity sponsors on the full range of transactions, including take-private (going-private) deals and both majority and minority investments. This combination – advising strategic corporate clients and financial sponsors alike – gives him a broad vantage point on the deal market and on the negotiating dynamics that shape complex transactions.

Wilson Sonsini and Silicon Valley dealmaking

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is closely identified with the technology and life sciences economy of California and, in particular, Silicon Valley. M&A in this environment is distinctive: deals often involve rapidly evolving technologies, sophisticated corporate governance considerations, significant regulatory scrutiny and highly negotiated terms among founders, investors and acquirers. Advising successfully in this market requires not only technical command of transactional law but also deep familiarity with the commercial realities of the technology sector, an area in which Martin Korman has built his reputation over decades.

Education and recognition

Martin Korman graduated from Yale Law School in 1989 and completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University. His work has earned significant recognition within the profession, including being named a Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer in 2023 and repeated selection to the Super Lawyers list over many years. Over the course of his career he has advised on a series of landmark transactions, reflecting the scale and profile of the matters he handles for leading technology companies and investors.

M&A law in California

California, and Silicon Valley in particular, remains one of the most active markets for mergers and acquisitions in the world, driven by the concentration of technology and growth companies, venture and private equity capital, and strategic acquirers. Transactions in this market frequently set benchmarks for deal structure and governance that are followed elsewhere. The lawyers who lead these deals must combine sophisticated transactional expertise with the judgement to guide boards and management through the strategic and governance questions that major transactions raise. Martin Korman's long tenure at Wilson Sonsini, his board leadership and his standing as a nationally recognised M&A attorney place him at the centre of this work.

Advising boards through transformative deals

Much of the work of a senior mergers and acquisitions lawyer takes place at board level, where directors must weigh strategic opportunity against fiduciary duty, valuation, deal certainty and the interests of shareholders. Martin Korman's counsel to boards and management on corporate governance, alongside the transactions themselves, is central to how he serves clients: guiding companies not only on how to execute a deal but on whether and how to pursue it in the first place. In the fast-moving technology sector, where a single acquisition can redefine a company's trajectory, this blend of transactional skill and governance judgement is precisely what leading companies and investors seek. His membership of the firm's board of directors further reflects the trust placed in his judgement within one of the sector's foremost firms.

The Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 “M&A Law Firm of the Year in California, US” recognises Martin Korman and the mergers and acquisitions practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for their leadership in advising technology companies, investors and private equity sponsors on the most significant transactions in the California market.