Bio

Jennifer Stapleton has 15 years of experience as a lead lawyer and strategic partner who uses sound legal judgment, smart business acumen, and deep operational expertise in counseling public corporations, privately held companies, large private equity platforms, and venture capital firms through complex, high stakes, multidimensional business transactions. Before joining Benesch, Jennifer worked in one of the country’s largest international law firms. Her expertise includes advising and leading cross-functional in-house, client, and third-party teams in structuring, negotiating, and executing high-profile international mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, financings, restructurings, bankruptcy proceedings, venture capital initiatives and equity co-investments for U.S. and international clients. Her experience spans numerous industries including financial technology, healthcare, real estate, manufacturing, search funds, and early-stage, high-growth companies where she advises on the full business life cycle from formation, capitalization, and acquisition through operation and ultimate exit. Jennifer advises clients and C-suite executives on a range of corporate matters, including governance, legal strategy, risk management and mitigation, equity incentives, and ongoing operations for subsidiaries and portfolio companies; she previously served as the in-house legal function for a large international manufacturer. She has represented clients such as CVC Capital Partners, Eagle Tree Capital, The Riverside Company, Peninsula Pacific Partners, Pegasus Capital Advisors, The Carlyle Group, STERIS Corp., Explorys, Yale New Haven Hospitals, the NRP Group, PartsSource, Vita-Mix Corporation, Sinochem Logistics and the State of Ohio. Jennifer is a respected civic leader with experience leading and managing boards of directors, advancing community initiatives, and improving institutional processes and growth strategies. She is the past president and a member of the Board of Directors of Dobama Theatre, a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth and its Women in Transactions initiative, a proud member of the Duke Alumni Club of Northeast Ohio, and an invited participant in Cleveland’s Blockland initiative. In 2015 she co-founded TechniCLE Speaking, an annual civic advocacy summit focused on supporting the sustainability and growth of Cleveland’s start-ups and emerging technology companies. Jennifer is committed to building strong partnerships, cultivating mutually respectful relationships, identifying untapped possibilities, designing strategies for achievement, and working hard in the pursuit of excellence.