Jesse-Issa Hawatmeh
Issa is an associate in the Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practice in the firm's San Francisco office.
Issa Hawatmeh graduated from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, where he was awarded the Chancellor's Scholarship and served as president of the Middle Eastern Law Society and vice president of the Hastings Technology and Law Society. Issa also worked as a student associate for the school's Startup Legal Garage, where he collaborated with leading Bay Area lawyers in representing several early-stage technology startups. Issa was also recognized as a California ChangeLawyers scholar by the Arab American Law Association of Southern California.
Before joining the firm, Issa worked at two multibillion-dollar startups, first as a contract analyst at Ironclad, Inc. and then as a legal operations specialist at Upgrade, Inc. His experience includes work with medical devices, life sciences, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), legal tech, and fintech.
Issa attended the University of California, Riverside where he graduated cum laude with a B.S. in bioengineering. He is fluent in Arabic.
Issa previously worked at Perkins Coie as a 3L law clerk, 2L D&I fellow, and 1L Law in Tech D&I fellow.
Areas of focus
Education & Credentials
Education
- University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco, J.D., 2023
- University of California, Riverside, B.S., Bioengineering, cum laude, 2020
Bar and Court Admissions
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California
Related Employment
- Upgrade, Inc., San Francisco, CA, Legal Operations Specialist, 2023; Legal Intern, 2022-2023
- Perkins Coie LLP, San Francisco, CA, 3L Law Clerk, 2022-2023; 2L D&I Fellow, 2022; 1L Law in Tech Diversity Fellow, 2021
- Ironclad, Inc., San Francisco, CA, Contract Analyst, 2022
- Rain Intelligence LLC, San Francisco, CA, Consultant, 2021-2022
- Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA, Legal Intern, 2021
Additional Languages
- Arabic
Professional Experience
Experience
GoodShip Inc.
Represented GoodShip in its $8M Series A Financing.
General Experience
- Represented a space tech company on its multi-million dollar asset purchase of a satellite imagery startup.
- Represented a carrier management and transportation procurement platform in its Series A financing.
- Represented a large European venture fund with over €300 Million assets under management in a multi-eight-figure cross-border acquisition of its portfolio company.
- Represented a women-founded dating app company on its Series Seed financing.
- Represented a Texas-based venture fund on its lead Series A investment into a voice authentication and fraud prevention solution provider.
- Represented an AI and ML platform on its multi-eight-figure acquisition by a leading Fortunate 500 company.