Partners
Raj Jha
Raj Jha was Vice President of Strategic Transactions and Associate General Counsel for Ask Jeeves, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASKJ, later acquired by IAC/InterActiveCorp) where he advised Ask Jeeves’ executives, CEO and Board of Directors. Raj led the structuring and negotiation of Ask Jeeves’ technical, marketing and channel alliances, executed the company’s asset purchases and mergers and acquisitions, and managed the company’s intellectual property portfolio. Raj also served as Vice President of Technology Partnerships for Reef (acquired by Mediasurface PLC), a global software company with offices in the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia. Raj began his career as an attorney with Cooley Godward LLP in the firm's Information Technology group. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Raj was a software engineer with Spinnaker Software’s business software unit, and as an undergraduate worked on database technologies in a research team sponsored by Digital Equipment Corporation.
Raj received a degree in Computer Science from Brandeis University and a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School where he chaired the Intellectual Property Group. Raj currently serves on the Technology Advisory Board to ALI-ABA, and has been a guest lecturer at the U.C. Hastings College of the Law. He has also presented at PLI's program on Intellectual Property Issues in Business Transactions. Raj co-founded Smithline Jha with Todd Smithline in June, 2004.
Raj is admitted to practice in California and Massachusetts.
Todd Smithline
Todd Smithline was General Counsel of Marimba, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRBA, later acquired by BMC Software, Inc.), an enterprise software company he helped guide from start-up to successful public company. Todd’s responsibilities included overseeing all legal issues for Marimba including software licensing, employee matters, litigation, regulatory compliance, intellectual property protection and securities law compliance. Todd also served as Vice President of Business Affairs & Legal for Shockwave.com, one of the top rated entertainment portals on the Web. Todd started his career as a corporate attorney with Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, California and later as a technology attorney with Gunderson Dettmer in Menlo Park, California.
Todd is an Adjunct Lecturer at the U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. He has been a presenter for PLI's Strategic Alliances Conference and a guest lecturer at Santa Clara University School of Law and the Haas School of Business.
In 2009, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) Magazine included Todd in its list of the 250 “World’s Leading IP Strategists.”
Todd received a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Los Angeles. Todd co-founded Smithline Jha with Raj Jha in June, 2004.
Todd is admitted to practice in California.
Associates
Chingwin Pei
Chingwin Pei served as a clerk on the New Hampshire Supreme Court after graduating from Harvard Law School. After clerking, Chingwin joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California as a corporate associate. During her three years at Wilson Sonsini, Chingwin’s practice focused on representing emerging growth and public technology companies in their strategic corporate and securities transactions.
Chingwin received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University with a double major in Economics and History and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Chingwin joined Smithline Jha as our third associate in September, 2008.
Chingwin is admitted to practice in California and Massachusetts.
Gavin L. Zee
Gavin Zee advised many of Silicon Valley’s leading technology companies while serving as a corporate and securities attorney with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. Gavin joined Wilson Sonsini upon graduation from Columbia Law School and served with the firm for over four years. While at Wilson Sonsini, he represented a variety of biotech, semiconductor, software and internet companies in the areas of venture finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and public company disclosure and reporting.
Gavin received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Molecular and Cell Biology, focusing in Genetics, and English and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. Gavin joined Smithline Jha as our second associate in March, 2007.
Gavin is admitted to practice in California.