Morrison & Foerster represented the underwriters, W.R. Hambrecht & Co. and Cantor Fitzgerald, on Overstock.com’s IPO. Hambrecht, like other investment banks, has its own Dutch auction process called an open IPO, and is one of the pioneers in that method of banking.

Russell Wood, an associate in MoFo’s San Francisco office, said Overstock.com management favored the non-traditional investment process because “the offering prices are much closer to what the shares will trade in the aftermarket.”