Merritt A. Cole, Attorney

Mr. Cole is a partner in the Business Department and chair of the Securities Law Practice Group.  He concentrates on a broad range of securities matters, including transactional matters (public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and control contests), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting and compliance, and corporate governance.  Mr. Cole represents a business clientele ranging from development-stage companies to publicly-held companies and financial institutions, including broker-dealers, investment advisers and banks.  He devotes a substantial portion of his time to counseling boards of directors, audit committees and compensation committees on Sarbanes-Oxley and other corporate and regulatory matters.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Cole worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., where he served as a Branch Chief in the Division of Market Regulation.  Prior to moving to Philadelphia, he practiced with Shearman & Sterling in New York City.

Mr. Cole's professional activities presently include:

• appointment as Vice Chair of the Planning Committee for the ABA's 2009 Annual Business Bar Leaders Conference;
• membership in the American Bar Association's Advisory Panel, which advises the ABA regarding its direction and issues facing the legal profession;
• membership in the Pennsylvania Securities Commission's Attorney Advisory Committee; and
• membership in the Advisory Panel of the Business Lawyers' Institute, sponsored annually by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

In 2003, Mr. Cole served as Chairman of the Business Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association; he served on the Executive Committee of the Section from 1999 through 2005.  He has also served as Chairman of the Securities Regulation Committee of the Business Law Section.  Mr. Cole has taught Advanced Corporate Practice and Securities Regulation at Rutgers School of Law and Advanced Topics in Securities Regulation at Temple University Law School.  He also lectures frequently on securities law matters and has served as an arbitrator and expert witness in securities proceedings.  His civic and charitable activities include serving on the Steering Committee of Law Works, the pro bono community business arm of Philadelphia VIP.

Mr. Cole received his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Law Review.  He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New York, and is admitted to appear before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Cole has been selected in a survey of his peers as a Pennsylvania "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine.  Mr. Cole has been AV rated by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system