Alessandra L. Simons

Simons has practiced her poker face for a long time. Though she never expected to be in mergers and acquisitions, her experience playing poker gives her good instincts on reading people and situations when stepping into intense and competitive deals.

“What I think I have been able to do quite a bit over the course of my career is point out to my clients and say, ‘Hey, let’s step back for a second and ask ourselves [about] the other side. Do their actions line up with what they’re saying?’” she said.

Simons was the lead lawyer advising Singapore Telecommunications and its subsidiary, Amobee, in their $119 million acquisition of Videology Inc. She’s no stranger to multi-million dollar deals, but this one was unique because the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was in a highly competitive auction.

“I would say that this transaction would be closest I’ve ever come to a poker game than anything else I’ve done in my professional life,” Simons said. “There was their strategy to how big or how small we should be bidding and how quickly I should respond and say the next price.”

After an intense bidding war with British broadcasting company ITV, Ltd., Simons and Singapore Telecommunications won.

Goodwin attorney Larry Chu, who played a major role in recruiting Simons, said she is a team player who is invaluable in bringing different parts of the firm together.

“One of her clients who I know well has described her as ‘my go-to crisis person,’” Chu said.“For us and for Goodwin, that’s the ultimate achievement if people forget for a moment that we’re lawyers and call us because they value our point of view and our network and our perspective on things.”

Simons said she finds gratification in her career when she can help clients buy and sell businesses that help get them to the next level.

“I love what I do and I really care about my clients, both as business entities but also as people,” Simons said. “ I think — I hope — that sort of comes through in everything else that I do.”

— Nicole Tyau