Trotter, Joel H.

Joel H. Trotter

Partner

joel.trotter@lw.com
    Trotter, Joel H.

    Joel H. Trotter

    Partner

    joel.trotter@lw.com
    Mr. Trotter is "a key name of note for governance and securities."

    Legal 500 US 2018

    Profile

    Joel H. Trotter is the Co-Chair of the firm's National Office, a central resource for clients and Latham lawyers facing complex issues arising under the US securities laws. He is the former Global Co-Chair of the Public Company Representation Practice and previously served for 10 years as Co-Chair of the Corporate Department in the Washington, D.C. office.

    Mr. Trotter's practice focuses on capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, and corporate governance. He represents issuers and underwriters in the public offering process and other Securities and Exchange Commission-related matters. He counsels boards of directors on governance issues, corporate crises, and business combination proposals.

    As one of two lawyers on the IPO Task Force, Mr. Trotter served as a principal author of the IPO-related provisions of the JOBS Act of 2012, enacted by a nearly unanimous Congress to reform the IPO process for emerging growth companies.

    Law360 named Mr. Trotter one of the 10 Most Admired Securities Attorneys from over 1,000 nominations, noting his "deep expertise and excellent judgment" on strategic matters, for which he is "one of the firm's go-to sources for advice." Who's Who Legal recognized Mr. Trotter as a leading lawyer who is "adept at handling complex issues for major corporate clients." The Legal 500 US recommended Mr. Trotter for Corporate Governance (Tier 1), and Law Business Research named him to the International Who's Who of Capital Markets Lawyers. 

    Experience

    Mr. Trotter has represented: 

    • Issuers and underwriters in over 150 initial public offerings (IPO) as the firm's national office advisor on complex issues
    • ArthroCare in its earnings restatement and subsequent US$1.7 billion sale
    • Carlyle in corporate governance and strategic securities law issues
    • Checkpoint Systems in its US$443 million sale
    • Fannie Mae in one of the largest earnings restatements in history
    • Fantex in its IPO of tracking stocks linked to professional athletes
    • FMC Technologies in its US$13 billion merger with Technip
    • Kimco Realty on US$4.5 billion in capital markets transactions
    • Omnicom on major strategic issues and corporate governance
    • Starbucks on corporate governance and securities matters
    • T-Mobile on corporate governance and securities matters
    • VEON on corporate governance and ADS resales of US$921 million

    Mr. Trotter also has obtained results from the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance yielding multi-million US dollar cost savings: 

    • Resolving IPO interpretive questions under JOBS Act provisions of which Mr. Trotter was a principal author
    • Avoiding earnings restatements and defending the outcomes with the SEC Staff, including error corrections equal to 9% of annual net loss   
    • Obtaining SEC Staff waivers from financial statement requirements
    • Resolving auditor independence violations that, absent SEC waiver, would require re-audit
    • Obtaining SEC exemptive relief from mandatory periodic reporting to defeat a hedge fund's economically coercive buyout demand

    Qualifications

    Bar Qualification

    • District of Columbia
    • Virginia

    Education

    • JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 1995
      Virginia Law Review
    • BA, University of Virginia, 1992
      Echols Scholar, Raven Society

    Practices

    Industries

    Recognition

    News & Insights

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