Hank Barry

HANK BARRY is chair of Sidley’s Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice and a founder of the firm’s Palo Alto office. Prior to joining Sidley, Hank was a managing director at Hummer Winblad Venture Partners in San Francisco. From 2000 to 2002, he served as CEO and a Board member of Napster, Inc.

Hank has advised many technology companies as a lawyer, investor and director. These include several companies in which he was primary outside counsel from formation through IPO and/or acquisition.

Hank is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on topics related to emerging growth companies and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford’s Program in Law, Science & Technology and the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. He has testified twice before the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate with respect to technology and intellectual property policy.

Hank is consistently recognized as a leading practitioner in his field by various publications including: Who’s Who Legal (2016) in the area of Telecommunications Media & Technology; The Legal 500 US and The Best Lawyers in America, who named him San Jose Lawyer of the Year in 2016, 2018 and 2020 for Technology Law.

He currently serves on the board of directors of KQED, the Bay area’s public media service.