What Lawyers Really Do During Due Diligence

In this insightful episode of The Dealist, we sit down with Peter Emmi, a partner at Reed Smith based in New York City and a legal expert with a deep technical background, including a 17-year career as an engineer, researcher and dealmaker on the legal team at IBM.

Peter discusses the role lawyers play during the due diligence process in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), particularly as it relates to rapidly evolving technologies.

Reflecting on the collaborative nature of successful transactions, he shares a guiding principle: "[M&A] is supposed to be a win-win, and that's the way we try to approach it."

Listen to hear Peter's insights on:

• The highs and lows of performing diligence
• Engaging directly with technical experts to unpeel the onion of a target’s operations
• Best practices for using AI
• The importance of emotional intelligence
• Plus, hear a diligence war story you won't believe

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Further reading

The Dynamics of Due Diligence, a report produced in association with Mergermarket and The M&A Research Centre (MARC) that explores the reasons behind the ever-expanding due diligence period in the past decade and reveals why those deals that have a “medium” duration in terms of timing are the most likely to succeed. Download here: https://www3.intralinks.com/the-dynamics-of-due-diligence-report?&utmcampaign=701pq00000ca6xu&utm_content=podcast-blog)

“The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on M&A Deals—Part I” by Peter Emmi published in The Journal of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & Law (Volume 8, No. 2; March-April 2025): https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/2025/03/impact-of-artificial-intelligence-ma-deals-part-i.

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Explore our INsights blog for more expert analysis and dealmaking trends. https://intralinks.com/insights