James A. Mercer III

James Mercer is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in the firm’s San Diego (Del Mar) and London offices.

Areas of Practice

James' practice focuses on corporate law, with an emphasis in U.S. and cross-border capital markets and merger and acquisition transactions.

James represents companies in public offerings of securities in the U.S., including initial public offerings, secondary public offerings, tender offers, registered direct offerings and private investments in public equities (PIPEs), as well as periodic reporting and disclosure, Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank compliance.

James advises U.S.-based and international companies in private offerings of securities, including Regulation D, Regulation S, Rule 144A private placements and security token offerings (STOs). He also represents both public and private companies in U.S. and cross-border mergers and acquisitions across a wide variety of industries in asset sales, stock sales, mergers, triangular mergers and other business combinations.

From 1999 to 2004, James was general counsel and chief financial officer of a Nasdaq-listed telecommunications software company.

Honors

•San Diego Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers, 2012

Insights

Articles

•Contributing Editor for California, International Corporate Procedures, Jordan Publishing, 2013-2017
• Preparing the Chinese Company for a Successful Listing in the United States, China Lexis Review, April 2010
• Preparing the Chinese Company for a Successful Listing in the USA, China Business Focus, Issue No. 131-132, January 1, 2010

Corporate & Securities Law Blog Articles

• SEC Eliminates the Prohibition on General Solicitation for Rule 506 and Rule 144A Offerings, July 12, 2013
• SEC Signals Proxy Access Rules Not Likely To Be Effective For The 2010 Proxy Season, But It May Adopt Other Proxy And Risk Disclosure Enhancements In Time For 2010 , October 6, 2009
• Smaller Reporting Companies Given Additional Time to Comply with Auditor Attestation Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting , October 5, 2009
• SEC approves NYSE Rule change regarding Broker Non-Votes , July 15, 2009

Law of the Ledger: Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Blog

• Security Tokens - A Superior Platform for Securities Holding and Trading, November 30, 2018

Speaking Engagements

• The SEC's focus on Corporate Governance, Grant Thornton LLP's Third Annual SEC Briefing, The Jonathan Club, Los Angeles, California, January 21, 2010
• China's IPO's: Getting These Deals Done in 2009 and Beyond, 2009 Hot Topics, McMillin Companies Event Center, San Diego, California, October 2009
• CFO Essentials, SingerLewak, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, California, July 2009
•Co-speaker, What Ever GC Should Know About Shareholder Activism, ALM's Fifth Annual General Counsel West Coast Conference, San Francisco, California, November 15, 2007

Events

•Timely Topics for SEC Registrants
Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine - Pavilion, 12.01.2010