John Lynn, P.C.
Overview
John Lynn co-leads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Practice and heads the practice on the West Coast out of the Bay Area office and in Texas out of the Austin office. John is on the forefront of understanding the complex relationships between intellectual property and technology, on the one hand, and business matters and risk, on the other hand.
John works on a wide variety of matters in which technology, data protection, and artificial intelligence play a key role, including private equity matters and other mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures (particularly in the software and high technology fields); financings, secured lending matters, and liability management transactions; and bankruptcies and restructurings. In addition, John assists clients in connection with joint ventures and strategic alliances; intellectual property and technology transfers, licenses, and development agreements; royalty buy-outs; data transfer and license arrangements; and other commercial contracts (such as supply, distribution, and service agreements).
Experience
Representative Matters
Gryphon Investors in its pending sale of 3Cloud, a provider of Microsoft Azure services, to Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH)
Tensile Capital Management in its $100 million investment in The Partner Companies, a manufacturing company
Crestline Investors on the private credit acquisition financing backing Arkview Capital’s purchase of NeoTech
Vista Equity Partners in its acquisition of Nexthink, a provider of Digital Employee Experience (DEX) management solutions, which values the company at approximately $3 billion
Kingswood Capital Management in its acquisition of Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, a provider of medical products, from CD&R
HGGC in its investment in Sterling Brokers, a benefits brokerage and third-party administrator
Integral Ad Science (Nasdaq: IAS), a provider of media measurement and optimization software, in its pending $1.9 billion sale to Novacap
Vista Equity Partners in its investment in AKUVO, a provider of collections and credit risk management software solutions
Aurora Capital Partners on the closing of over $2.1 billion of capital commitments for Aurora Equity Partners VII (AEP VII)
Windjammer Capital in its acquisition of PDU Cables, a provider of specialized power cable solutions for data centers, and Engineered Products Company, a provider of specialty products to electric distributors
AirX Climate Solutions, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, in its acquisition of AboveAir Technologies
Bain Capital and Vista Equity Partners on a refinancing for their portfolio company CentralSquare
Breakwall Credit Management LLC in the establishment of a senior secured delayed draw term loan credit facility for Silfab Inc.
Clearlake Capital Group and Vista Equity Partners-backed EagleView on a comprehensive recapitalization transaction
FTV Capital in its $90 million investment in BillingPlatform, a provider of revenue lifecycle management software
FTV Capital in its growth equity investment in ButterflyMX, a cloud-based property access platform for multifamily and commercial properties
FTV Capital-backed ZEMA Global Data Corp. in its acquisition of Morningstar Commodity Data, a provider of commodities and energy data and insights, from Morningstar (Nasdaq: MORN)
Gryphon Investors in its investment in phData, a provider of modern data applications and AI software solutions
HGGC in its investment in Rimkus Consulting Group, a provider of engineering and technical consulting
HomeServices of America in its $200 million debt facility
Hunter Point Capital in the formation of Hunter Point Capital Investors, a $3.3 billion GP stakes fund
Kingswood Capital Management in its acquisition of Branding Iron, a provider of branded and private label protein products
KKR and its portfolio company Global Medical Response, a medical emergency transportation company, in a comprehensive refinancing transaction
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in the sale of Encore Fire Protection, a provider of fire protection services
Nubank (NYSE: NU) in its acquisition of Hyperplane, a data intelligence platform
Pluralsight, LLC, a leading technology workforce development company, in a comprehensive transaction that included a recapitalization and exchange of existing secured debt
PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC), a provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, in its $5.6 billion sale to Bain Capital Private Equity
Powin, a global leader in battery energy storage solutions, on successfully securing a revolving credit facility of up to $200 million primarily from insurance accounts managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm
Stardust Power Inc. (Nasdaq: SDST), a lithium refining company, in its committed equity facility for up to $50 million in common stock
Summit Partners on the closing of its $9.5 billion growth equity fund
TA, Harvest and GI-backed MRI in its acquisition of Anacle (HKSE: 8353), a provider of digital workplace solutions, energy, facilities, property management and real estate asset management solutions
Togetherwork, a GI Partners portfolio company, in connection with a preferred equity financing
Truelink Capital in its acquisition of GES, a provider of exhibition and trade show management services, from Viad (NYSE: VVI)
Vista Equity Partners and TCV, alongside KKR, in the investment in Nasuni, a provider of an enterprise data platform, which values the company at $1.2 billion
Vista Equity Partners-backed Avalara, Inc. a provider of tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes, on its broadly syndicated refinancing transaction
Vista Equity Partners-backed EAB in its acquisition of Forage, a provider of virtual job simulations
Vista Equity Partners-backed Gainsight in its acquisition of Skilljar, a provider of Learning Management Software for external training
Vista Equity Partners-backed Salesloft in its combination with Drift, a buyer experience and Conversational AI company
Vista Equity Partners in its acquisition of equity securities of Assent
Warburg Pincus on the formation of its $4 billion inaugural capital solutions fund
More
Thought Leadership
Speaking Engagements
“AI in Practice: Innovation and Real-World Impact,” The USA Artificial Intelligence Summit, June 3, 2025
“The Future of IP Management: Leveraging AI & Digital Transformation,” Global IP ConfEx, May 14, 2025
“A Data Privacy Symposium on Trends, Challenges, and Emerging Risks,” UC Law Data Privacy Symposium, March 24, 2025
“Legal Issues Related to Artificial Intelligence,” European and International IT-law, April 29, 2024
“Be Careful When Using AI!,” 23rd Annual Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal Symposium 2024, Securing Innovation Intellectual Property’s Key Role in Shaping Modern Industries,” March 1, 2024
“AI Issues for The C-Suite,” Gen AI Forum, November 2, 2023
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) 2.0: Hot Topics and Making AI Work for You,” Knowledge Now, A Virtual CLE Series, October 5, 2023
“The New ‘Private’: Protecting Your Company’s Information in a Fully Remote World,” TechGC Virtual Private Dinner, March 9, 2021
“The New ‘Private’: Protecting Your Company’s Information in a Fully Remote World,” TechGC Virtual Private Dinner, January 21, 2021
“Privacy: Preparing for the CA Consumer Privacy Act (II),” TechGC National Summit, New York Stock Exchange, October 24, 2019
Recognition
Recognized by Mergers & Acquisitions for “Software Deal of the Year,” 2025
Recognized in The Legal 500 United States for Technology: Transactions, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2022, Texas
- 2006, California
- 1999, New York
Education
- Emory University School of LawJ.D.with Distinction1998
Dean's List 6 out of 6 semesters
Order of the Coif
Managing Editor, Emory Law Journal
Co-Founder, Emory Intellectual Property Society
- Georgia Institute of TechnologyM.S., Aerospace Engineering1994
- Georgia Institute of TechnologyB.S., Aerospace Engineeringwith Highest Honors1993