John Coates

John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics

Harvard Law School

John Coates is a nationally recognized expert in corporate transactions, corporate control and governance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), financial institutions, and securities. He has served as General Counsel and Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and also as a member of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Professor Coates was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where he specialized in financial institutions and in M&A. He has provided consulting services to the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, multiple financial regulatory agencies, and the New York Stock Exchange. Professor Coates has also consulted for participants in financial markets, including individuals, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks, commercial banks, and private equity funds. In addition, Professor Coates served as an independent consultant for the SEC in the first and largest of the “Fair Fund” distributions to investors.