Merritt A. Cole Partner

Merritt Cole has extensive experience in securities and corporate matters, including public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments and control contests, Securities and Exchange Commission reporting and compliance and corporate governance.  He represents a broad range of business clients, including development-stage companies, publicly-held companies and financial institutions, such as broker-dealers, investment advisers and banks.  He devotes a substantial portion of his time to counseling boards of directors, audit committees and compensation committees on Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and other corporate and regulatory matters.

Before entering private practice, Merritt worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., where he served as a Branch Chief in the Division of Market Regulation.   

Merritt has taught Advanced Corporate Practice and Securities Regulation at Rutgers School of Law and Advanced Topics in Securities Regulation at Temple University Law School.  He also lectures frequently on securities law matters and has served as an arbitrator and expert witness in securities proceedings. 

While in law school, Merritt was Associate Editor of the Law Review.

Throughout his career, Merritt is has been involved in many legal and business organizations, holding senior leadership positions in several. He has been on the Planning Committee of the American Bar Association's Annual Business Bar Leaders Conference and he is a former chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Business Law Section and former member of that section's Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission's Attorney Advisory Committee and a member of the Pennsylvania Business Lawyers Institute's Advisory Panel.

Recognition & Involvement

Merritt has been AV® rated by the Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating system.

His civic and charitable activities include having served for many years on the Steering Committee of Law Works, the pro bono community business arm of Philadelphia VIP, and assisting Habitat for Humanity in its housing renovation efforts in Camden, NJ.