John-Paul Motley
About John-Paul
John-Paul is a partner in Cooley’s public companies group. His practice focuses on advising public and private companies and their boards of directors on a wide range of transactional and corporate governance matters. John-Paul represents clients in debt and equity capital markets transactions, ranging from IPOs and secondary offerings to high-yield, convertible and investment grade debt issuances. In addition, John-Paul advises public company clients on Securities and Exchange Commission reporting and disclosure issues and compliance matters, and he regularly acts as the outside corporate counsel for his clients. John-Paul has been recognized by Chambers USA for his Capital Markets: Debt & Equity practice since 2015 where clients describe him as “extremely knowledgeable, responsive and personable” particularly noting his “strong deal sense” and “good business instincts.”
While in law school, John-Paul was special projects editor for the Vanderbilt Law Review.
Education
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Vanderbilt University Law School
JD, Order of the Coif, 1999 -
Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
MBA, Beta Gamma Sigma, 1999 -
University of Memphis
BBA, summa cum laude, 1995
Rankings and accolades
Chambers USA: Capital Markets: Debt & Equity – California (2021 – 2025)
Chambers USA: Capital Markets: Debt & Equity: Western United States – Nationwide (2021 – 2025)
The Legal 500 US: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings (2010 – 2025)
Los Angeles Business Journal – Top 100 Lawyers (2023)
International Financial Law Review: Capital Markets – Debt & Equity (2018 – 2021)
Memberships and affiliations
- Vanderbilt University Law School, Board of Advisors, President
- Phoenix House California, Board of Directors