Gordon K. Davidson

Davidson and corporate partner Jeffrey R. Vetter made firm history when they led the team that represented Facebook Inc. during its long-awaited initial public offering in May. It was the third-largest IPO in U.S. history.

At $16 billion in shares offered, Facebook's IPO ranked only behind those of credit card company Visa Inc. and Italian energy company Enel SpA by size.

Davidson, who joined Fenwick in 1976 and became chairman in 1995, said the firm continues to thrive as it prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary this month.

"For the last two years, in 2010 and 2011, we had record years in revenue, and we expect 2012 to be a record year," Davidson said.

Last December, he and Vetter advised San Mateo-based SuccessFactors Inc. in its $3.4 billion acquisition by German software vendor SAP AG. Experts said the transaction illustrated the growing importance of cloud-based technology to international markets.

He also advised San Diego-based IT and cloud computing company ServiceNow Inc. in its June IPO valued at $209 million. It was the first major technology IPO after Facebook's.

Davidson said cloud-based, software-as-a-service companies are of interest to investors because they provide customers with flexible software and network solutions.

"Customers can buy the service as they go, and they can pay monthly," Davidson said. "Updates are made continuously instead of once every year or once every two years."

Davidson's status as a Silicon Valley legend began early. He took Oracle Corp. public in 1986 and since then has represented scores of Silicon Valley technology giants in their corporate transactions.

With the shifting legal business landscape, Davidson has overseen changes to how the firm services its clients, including the introduction of an internal team of document review lawyers for corporate work and a group of contract lawyers to provide in-house legal services to startups and companies at lower prices.

Davidson said the firm would be focused on cross-border transactions in India and China in the coming year, representing clients both stateside and abroad.

In other transactions in the past year, Davidson led the Fenwick team that represented San Jose-based medical mobile communications provider Vocera Communications Inc. in its $94 million IPO, and he advised the underwriters in separate initial public offerings for Palo Alto-based Jive Software Inc. and Utah-based Fusion-io Inc.

Davidson said he won't be slowing down anytime soon.

"I enjoy what I do, and I'm enjoying it now even more than ever," he said.

- KEVIN LEE