Morrison Foerster

Mergers + Acquisitions; Private Equity Investments + Buyouts; Emerging Companies + Venture Capital; SPACs; Sovereign Investors

Managing Partner, Los Angeles

Thomas Chou is the managing partner of Morrison Foerster’s Los Angeles office. For over a quarter century, Thomas has successfully advised on leading cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity and venture capital financings, primarily in the U.S. and across Asia. His clients include industry-leading emerging growth companies and private equity, venture capital, sovereign wealth, corporate venture, and family office investors. His broad industry coverage includes biopharma, MedTech, and digital health; mobile, gaming, and entertainment; material science and semiconductors (equipment and design); Deeptech/AI; Fintech (payments, remittances, and digital assets); PropTech; FoodTech; health and wellness; and consumer products and retail. Thomas is a proud and active member of the board of directors of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Clients and outside ranking organizations routinely cite Thomas’ accomplishments:

Thomas is “a strong advocate for his client, offering strategic and actionable advice, evaluating and clearly prioritizing the key issues in complex situations and proactively anticipating concerns from counterparties in negotiations." “Thomas Chou is excellent in understanding the industry and leads the team in working on the same. He is very responsive and works 24 hours responding to the clients.” “Thomas has significant experience handling complex cross–border transactions across the Asia–Pacific region. His counsel is frequently sought by global technology corporations to advise on their investments in the region. He also commands considerable respect from private equity clients.” His clients pinpoint his “decades of venture capital experience both in the United States and in Asia,” with one noting: “He is patient, attentive to details and someone who has clearly conquered many battlefields.” Thomas is particularly praised for his communications skills, with clients saying, “Any issues we had he would always provide a solution. He is not only interpreting regulations, but he is also commercially savvy.”

At MoFo, Thomas is an active member of our Emerging Company + Venture Capital, Private Equity, and M&A practices, all of which are consistently highly ranked in major independent industry league tables and lawyer ranking organizations.

Thomas is also a proud member of the board of directors of the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

University of California, Los Angeles, B.A.

Lewis & Clark Law School, J.D.