Sherrill A Corbett
USA Guide 2024
Band 3 : Corporate/M&A
Band 3
About
Provided by Sherrill A Corbett
Practice Areas
Mergers & Acquisitions
Corporate Finance & Transactions
Corporate Governance
Business Law
Cannabis
Food & Beverage
Manufacturing
Career
Sherrill is immediate past Co-Chair of Tonkon Torp’s Business Transitions Practice Group. She counsels clients on buying and selling businesses, structuring complex joint ventures, bank financings, private placements, and public offerings. Sherrill represents public companies and advises them on securities compliance, corporate governance matters, and follow-on offerings.
Sherrill’s clients value her ability to provide quality legal counsel with practical business advice and creative solutions, while making “legalese” easy to understand. She especially enjoys working with women-owned or operated businesses.
Sherrill previously practiced at Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP’s San Francisco office and at Graham & James LLP, also in California. She recently concluded her tenure as a member of Tonkon Torp’s Managing Board.
Professional Memberships
American Bar Association
Multnomah Bar Association
Oregon Women Lawyers
Work Highlights
Tonkon Torp Leads Gagen MacDonald Acquisition
Tonkon Torp represented client Gagen MacDonald, a human-focused transformation consulting firm, in its acquisition by APCO Worldwide, a global advisory and advocacy consultancy. The two industry leaders provide complementing C-suite consulting services that focus on human-centered transformation within organizations.
The Ramos Project
In April 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down non-unanimous jury convictions in criminal cases in Ramos v. Louisiana. A shameful carryover from the Jim Crow era, Louisiana and Oregon were the last two states that allowed non-unanimous criminal convictions when as many as two jurors believed a defendant was innocent. Overnight, more than 260 cases in Oregon became eligible to seek post-conviction relief for unconstitutional non-unanimous convictions. Housed in the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) at Lewis & Clark Law School, the Ramos Project is a statewide pro-bono initiative providing legal assistance to those seeking redress.
Tonkon Torp Guides Pacific Foods through Oregon’s Largest Acquisition of 2017
Tonkon Torp led Oregon’s largest M&A transaction in 2017, the $700 million acquisition of Tualatin-based Pacific Foods of Oregon LLC by Campbell Investment Company. Pacific Foods is an iconic, nationally distributed organic food brand founded in 1987.
Tonkon Torp Brings Attorney Power to Renewable Energy Transaction
Tonkon Torp client Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA) is the North American subsidiary of one of the largest corporations in the world, the Italian electricity company Enel S.p.A. Here’s how we helped EGPNA in a renewable energy acquisition.
Tonkon Torp Represents Vestas in Acquisition of UpWind Solutions
Tonkon Torp represented its client Vestas, the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines, in the acquisition of UpWind Solutions, Inc., an independent service provider for wind power plants in nine US states. The $60 million acquisition furthers Vestas’s strategic objectives for its North America service business.
Diverse Team Aids Greenbrier in Joint Venture
Tonkon Torp acted as Oregon corporate counsel for its long-term client The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. in finalizing a 50/50 joint venture with Watco Companies, L.L.C. The venture combines the two companies’ railcar repair, refurbishment and maintenance businesses into a new organization, GBW Railcar Services, LLC.
Tonkon Torp Helps Albina Head Start Stabilize Finances for Enhanced Programming
Albina Head Start, Inc. (AHS), which serves more than 1,000 low-income children and their families in North, Northeast and Southeast Portland, faces the future in a stronger financial position thanks to a significant pro bono effort by Tonkon Torp. Find details and more featured cases here.
Tonkon Torp Helps CLIMAX Strengthen Worldwide Market Position
Tonkon Torp represented Newberg, Oregon-based CLIMAX Portable Machining and Welding Systems, in its acquisition in 2013 of Houston-based Calder Testers. Founded in 1966, CLIMAX is the world’s largest supplier of portable machine tools for the power generation, shipbuilding, heavy construction and mining, petrochemical and engineering industries.
Tonkon Torp Facilitates Greenbrier Subsidiary Divestiture
Earlier this year, Tonkon Torp represented Meridian Rail Acquisitions Corp., a subsidiary of the firm’s long-standing client The Greenbrier Companies, in the sale of substantially all of the equipment utilized in Greenbrier’s reconditioned wheelset roller bearing operations in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The purchaser was The Timken Companies, a global manufacturer of mechanical components and high-performance steel, including bearings.
Expert in these Jurisdictions
Oregon State Bar
State Bar of California
Education
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif
1995
Saint Mary’s College of California
B.A., summa cum laude
1992
Awards
2011-2024, Corporate Compliance Law
The Best Lawyers in America
2011-2024, Corporate Governance Law
The Best Lawyers in America
2014-2024, Securities/Capital Markets Law
The Best Lawyers in America
2021-2024, Corporate Law
The Best Lawyers in America
2014, 2020, 2024, Lawyer of the Year – Corporate Governance Law, Portland
The Best Lawyers in America
2013, 2017, Lawyer of the Year – Corporate Compliance Law, Portland
The Best Lawyers in America
2019-2024, Oregon Super Lawyer – Business/Corporate
Super Lawyers
2008-2009, Oregon Rising Star – Business/Corporate
Super Lawyers
2014, Mergers & Acquisitions
Client Choice Awards, USA & Canada
2006, Forty Under 40
Portland Business Journal
2020-Present, Member
Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
Chambers Review
USA
Sherrill Corbett is a well-regarded corporate lawyer with notable expertise in handling M&A and financing matters for a broad client base. She has particular experience in the food and drink and technology sectors.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"Sherrill is delightful to work with."
"Sherrill is delightful to work with."