Bio

William Matthews is co-chair of the Corporate and Securities Department. He concentrates his practice in securities, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate counseling for a wide range of clients, from family-owned businesses to emerging growth businesses to public companies. In addition, Bill frequently acts as “outside general counsel” to his clients, representing them on all corporate and financial matters and coordinating other legal issues, ranging from litigation to intellectual property to regulatory matters. He regularly reviews agreements, negotiates employment matters and advises on litigation and regulatory issues. Bill is also co-chair of the firm’s education practice group and counsels colleges, universities and other entities in education on numerous matters. In the area of securities, Bill represents clients in matters before the SEC, providing particular skill in Exchange Act compliance matters, and has experience with Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank Act compliance and related regulatory matters. A significant part of his practice includes the representation of individuals, funds and issuers in connection with equity investments in emerging growth companies. Bill’s merger and acquisition experience is significant, having participated in numerous purchases and sales of companies, both public and private, in transactions structured as asset sales, stock sales and mergers. These deals have ranged in size from several million dollars to multi-billion-dollar mergers. Bill has closed over 50 transactions in the past five years. In an article in GC Mid-Atlantic, Daniel Kaufman, former Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Game Stop, described Bill as a “responsive, capable, very bright lawyer who understands what the company needs, and gives us 110 percent all the time.” He also co-chairs the franchise & licensing industry group and is a member of the retail, restaurants and hospitality industry group.