Deanna Whitestone advises privately and publicly held companies in corporate, securities and transactional matters. Her practice includes entity formation, negotiating, drafting and reviewing various commercial contracts and advising on employment matters. Her transactional experience includes private and public offerings of debt and equity securities, PIPE transactions and mergers and acquisitions, including reverse mergers.
Deanna has extensive SEC experience assisting publicly-traded companies with corporate governance matters, public disclosure issues, and preparation and filing of securities registration statements, proxy statements and quarterly and annual reports under the 1933 Securities Act and 1934 Exchange Act.
Deanna began her legal career as a securities regulator at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) where she worked in both the Department of Enforcement and the Department of Member Regulation. Prior to joining Raines Feldman LLP, Deanna was an associate practicing in the areas of corporate and securities law with the Post Law Group PC, and prior to that with Richardson & Patel LLP.
Deanna holds a B.S. with honors from the Portland State University and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law, where she served as Lead Articles Editor of the Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas and as a writer for the Wagner National Labor Law moot court team. While serving on the Journal, Deanna published an article entitled “The Response to Enron in the U.S. and Canada: Are Principles-Based Accounting Standards More Effective at Preventing Financial Fraud?”
In addition to her law practice, Deanna serves on the governing board of APEX Academy, a public charter school in Hollywood, dedicated to serving at risk students in the greater Los Angeles area.