Joel Trotter is the Co-Chair of the National Office, a central resource for clients and Latham lawyers facing complex issues arising under the US securities laws. Joel has successfully guided public companies of all sizes, from Fortune 100 to emerging growth companies, through major transactions, bet-the-company corporate crises, and regulatory matters. He served previously as Global Co-Chair of the Public Company Representation practice and, for 10 years, as Co-Chair of the Corporate Department in Washington, D.C.
Law360 describes Joel as “genuinely brilliant”; “smart, creative, and responsive”; “always available”; “absolutely encyclopedic”; a “master” of “ever-changing federal securities laws”; a problem solver with “deep expertise and excellent judgment” on “the most sophisticated securities problems”; and a strategic advisor whose clients have “deftly avoided legal problems with the SEC because Joel guided them around the land mines.”
Members of Congress credited Joel, in a 2023 hearing, as “a leading member of the IPO Task Force” and “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. The Wall Street Journal described Joel’s role in having “advised Congress on the 2012 legislation,” and his views on securities regulation have appeared in Bloomberg, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal.
Joel has testified repeatedly before Congress on the federal securities laws, and his publications include contributions to the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal against overzealous SEC enforcement, “Nothing to Fear From the SEC?” (October 2015).
Law360 named Joel one of the 10 Most Admired Securities Attorneys from over 1,000 nominations. Who’s Who Legal describes Joel as “adept at handling complex issues for major corporate clients.” The Legal 500 US recommended Joel for Corporate Governance (Tier 1), and Law Business Research named him to the International Who’s Who of Capital Markets Lawyers.
Joel's experience includes:
Chambers USA recognized the firm as a “powerhouse in the capital markets space.”
Chambers USA recognized the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Practice for “world class expertise when it comes to the most challenging transactions.”
FactSet's Activism Scorecard ranks Latham first for activism defense by number of campaigns.