Ms. Cowles is a partner in Davis Polk & Wardwell’s Corporate Department and is based in Menlo Park, California. Her practice includes a broad range of corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and corporate advisory matters, including domestic and cross-border transactions.

In the capital markets and corporate finance area, she has represented companies and investment banks on a wide variety of transactions, including public offerings, private placements and tender and exchange offers involving a variety of equity, debt, hybrid and convertible securities. Recent representations have included SLM Corporation, Stockbridge Real Estate Funds, Texas Instruments and Comcast Corporation in capital markets and other financing transactions; the underwriters in debt/hybrid/convertible bond financings; and Bank of America Securities and other bookrunners in an offshore IPO of a private equity vehicle.

She also advises corporations and venture capital entities on investments, joint ventures, acquisitions, refinancing transactions and other matters. Recent representations have included acquisitions by VF Corporation, Smith & Nephew plc, Roche and Oracle Corporation. She has also represented BeVocal in its acquisition by Nuance Communications and XOJet in connection with an investment by TPG Capital.

Ms. Cowles also advises on cross-border transactions and provides general corporate advice to non-U.S.-based companies. She represented Telecom Argentina and subsidiary companies in a comprehensive refinancing of their financial indebtedness, completed in late 2005.

Ms. Cowles joined Davis Polk in 1990 and became a partner in 1998.

She graduated from Hamilton College in 1984 and in 1989 received her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law, where she was commentary editor of the law review. She clerked for the Honorable R.J. Cardamone, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, from 1989 to 1990. Ms. Cowles is admitted to the bars of California, New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

She is a member of the State Bar of California, the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association.