Dennis O. Garris
Recognized since 2005
Washington, District of Columbia
Corporate Governance Law
Corporate Law
Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Securities Regulation
Dennis O. Garris is partner-in-charge of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office and is the former co-head of the firm’s securities, mergers and acquisitions practices. His practice focuses on securities and complex Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulatory and disclosure matters and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Garris is a nationally known expert on SEC regulatory matters, including the proxy rules, tender offer rules, going-private rules and beneficial ownership reporting rules. From October 1997 until early 2003, he served as chief of the Office of Mergers and Acquisitions, in the Division of Corporation Finance at the SEC. He began his career at the SEC in 1992.
As head of the SEC’s Office of Mergers and Acquisitions, Mr. Garris oversaw regulation of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions and the statutory and regulatory interpretive functions of the SEC as they relate to domestic and international tender offers, exchange offers and business combinations, issuer tender offers (including debt buybacks), proxy solicitations (both contested and non-contested), going-private transactions and beneficial ownership reporting. Mr. Garris worked closely with the SEC’s Division of Enforcement on enforcement matters involving M&A and beneficial ownership reporting issues.
- The Atlantic Building
950 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004-1404
- Youngstown State University, BS, graduated 1989
- District of Columbia, The District of Columbia Bar
- Advisory Board, Deallawyers.com - Member
- Advisory Committee, DC Bar Foundation - Member
- American Bar Association Subcommittee on Proxy Statements and Business Combinations of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee - Vice-chair, and former Chair
- Board of Governors, Ford’s Theatre - Member
- Friends of Ballou, Ballou Senior High School, Washington, D.C. - Board Member
244 The Best Lawyers in America® awards
152 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America awards
- Corporate Governance Law, Washington, D.C. (2023)
- Corporate Governance Law, Washington, DC (2013)
- Corporate Governance Law
- Corporate Law
- Mergers and Acquisitions Law
- Securities Regulation
- COVID-19
- Securities / Capital Markets Law
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