Christopher P. O’Connell began his legal career as a corporate and securities associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City. He continued his career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and then with other firms, all in New York City. Mr. O’Connell relocated to California in 1995 after twenty-three years of practice in New York City and has been a shareholder in the firm since 1997. He is a member of both the California and the New York bars.
Area of Specialization: business, corporate, securities, and commercial law matters.
Mr. O’Connell has spent his entire career representing corporations, partnerships and other business entities in financing and business transactions. Major matters have included:
- Initial and secondary public offerings of securities
- Mergers, acquisitions and dispositions of public and private companies
- Creation and structure of business entities for entrepreneurs
- Institutional and unconventional financing of public and private companies
- Private offerings of securities
- Dissociations of equity owners
- Commercial contracts relating to distributorships, agencies, consulting, and other relationships
Practice Philosophy
To create sound and enduring business relationships between clients and counterparties that add value to clients’ businesses. Each relationship is unique and requires an understanding of the clients’ overall business as well as the particular benefits to be derived by both parties from the relationship.
Academic Experience
1996 – 2017 Adjunct Professor of Law at Southwestern University School of Law: Corporations, Business Planning and Securities Regulation
2018 – 2019 Lecturer in Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law: Securities Regulation
Publication:
“Stock Drop,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, September 2, 2003
Foreign Language:
French
EDUCATION
• College of the Holy Cross A.B. in History, 1967, Junior Year at Institute of European Studies, Paris, France
• Columbia Law School J.D., 1972, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar