Clients hire Jamie to resolve complex business disputes, through litigation, trial or otherwise. He has approximately 30 years of experience representing domestic and foreign corporations and their boards, special committees, individual directors and officers, and owners in complex, bet-the-company litigations and highly sensitive governance matters. His work spans multiple industries and jurisdictions on a spectrum of issues critical to clients’ successful business operations and corporate governance. As a member of Womble Bond Dickinson’s multi-disciplinary Public Company Advisors Team, Jamie’s experience includes advising on fiduciary duties, regulatory compliance issues, best practices, financial restatements, and mergers and acquisitions transactions and leading numerous internal investigations for public and private business alike. Jamie has been Panel Counsel to AIG for D&O matters, Chambers-rated in Securities Litigation, AV-rated in litigation, business law and securities law, and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers for securities litigation and business litigation.
Jamie has defended clients in a variety of securities litigations, including shareholder class action lawsuits, derivative lawsuits, and in investigations and litigation brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, and the Department of Justice. He has successfully warded off injunctions to stop significant M&A transactions. Jamie’s clients have included large international corporations and domestic hedge funds, multi-national accounting firms, movie studios, professional athletes, and individual business owners. While each requires a specific and tailored defense, all of Jamie’s clients find that his efforts to understand their fundamental business needs equip him to build the best defense and better resolve their disputes prior to trial.
Jamie helped a Harvard Business School Professor develop and implement a Board Leadership Program, to coach the next generation of board members for public and private business alike. He has served as pro-bono counsel to families of children with autism, serves on the Corporate Leadership Council for the Fernbank Museum of National History, and was selected to be a member of Leadership Atlanta’s class of 2018. Jamie has been a featured speaker on CNBC’s SquawkBox on multiple occasions.
Presentations
- Getting It Right When It All Goes Wrong: Leading Management Through an Internal Investigation, Association of Corporate Counsel, Compliance and Ethics Committee Legal Quick Hit, Feb. 21, 2017.
- Getting it Right When it All Goes Wrong: Implementing a Successful Compliance Program and Leading Management Through an Internal Investigation, Association of Corporate Counsel, Atlanta, GA, Aug. 9, 2016.
- Securities Litigation and Regulatory Practice, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, Atlanta, GA, Oct. 21, 2016.
Honors & Awards
- Chambers USA Ranked Lawyer, Litigation: Securities, Georgia, 2023 - Present
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Commercial Litigation (2023), Litigation: Insurance (2024 - Present), and Litigation: Securities (2024 - Present)
- Super Lawyers Honoree in Securities Litigation, Business Litigation, Professional Liability, Georgia Super Lawyers magazine (Thomson Reuters), 2011 – 2018
- Received the Best Lawyers™ 2019 Bet-the-Company Litigation "Lawyer of the Year" award in Atlanta
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Lead counsel defending hedge funds and principals in investor claims of fraud, mismanagement and theft. Numerous claims dismissed pursuant to motion to dismiss and all remaining claims adjudicated in favor of defendants at summary judgment. Attempts to appoint a receiver, attach the assets of the funds, and bring criminal claims were all rebuffed.
- Defended CEO and other officers of publicly-traded telecommunications company in multiple actions by shareholders and by bankruptcy trustee as well as during SEC investigation. D&O (shareholder) lawsuits dismissed on motion and remainder resolved without payment by company or any officer.
- Lead counsel in coordinated defense of seven competitors in the travel industry in connection with complex tax claims arising from assessments of city and county taxes. Summary judgment granted for all clients on all claims.
- Lead counsel defending numerous directors and officers of banks during and after closure of their banks and appointment of the FDIC as receiver, including in D&O litigation arising after such closure.
- Led multiple internal investigations including regarding allegations of embezzlement by U.S. controller of foreign corporation; allegations of securities fraud by senior officers and board members of company; allegations of governmental obstruction by officers and employees of highly regulated industry. Part of teams directing additional investigations including into allegations of theft, embezzlement, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and otherwise.
