John H. Lawrence, Jr.

John Lawrence focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and private equity transactions, angel investments, private equity fund formation, and securities transactions in a broad range of industries, including aerospace, insurance and managed care, health care, energy and natural resources, and technology.

He represents public and private companies in merger and acquisition transactions, private equity and venture capital investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, corporate governance matters, shareholder disputes and business separations and dissolutions.

John has significant experience in transition planning for family-owned and closely-held businesses and assisting owners and management in preparing for and executing sale transactions and other transitions to the next generation of owners and management.

John’s broad range of experience as a general corporate and business lawyer has proven invaluable to business owners who have not been through a sale transaction and are unfamiliar with the complex and fast-moving process.

John’s collaborative approach and breadth of knowledge of business, financial and tax issues, as well as his sensitivity to the complexities of family-owned or closely-held businesses, make him particularly well-suited to manage the legal aspects of a sale process that maximizes value to the current owners and positions the company for continued growth.

John has testified on numerous occasions before the Judiciary, the Commerce and the Banks Committees of the Connecticut General Assembly on behalf of the Business Law Section of the Connecticut Bar Association in support of various amendments to the Connecticut Business Corporation Act, the Connecticut Entity Transactions Act; he also played a significant role in drafting and testifying in favor of the adoption of the Connecticut Benefit Corporation Act.

Professional Affiliations:

• American Bar Association: Section of Business Law, Corporate Laws Committee, Mergers and Acquisitions Committee, Acquisitions of Public Companies Subcommittee, M&A Jurisprudence Subcommittee, Private Target Model Merger Agreement Task Force, and Judicial Interpretations Subcommittee; Connecticut Liaison to Corporate Laws Committee; and Private Equity and Venture Capital Committee
• Connecticut Bar Association: Business Law Section, Chair (2012-2014), Executive Committee
• Hartford County Bar Association
• American Health Lawyers Association

Education:

• University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1975
• Washington and Lee University, B.S., 1968