FAQs
My name is Erik A. Lopez, Sr. I am an attorney with 20 years of domestic and cross-border, public and private mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experience. I’ve managed deals totaling tens of billions of dollars in value for major law firms, including Shearman & Sterling in New York and San Francisco and Latham & Watkins in Chicago. I am currently a founding Partner at Jasso Lopez PLLC, a boutique corporate law firm headquartered in Dallas and serving a global client-base.
I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa; Honors) and law degree from New York University School of Law. I am admitted to practice law in New York, California and Illinois (inactive). I am not admitted to practice in Texas.
You can learn more about me here.
Absolutely. However, if you communicate with me in connection with a matter for which Jasso Lopez does not already represent you, you should not send me confidential or sensitive information via email or other means because your communication will not be treated as privileged or confidential. Also, if I answer your question on this blog, it’s because I thought the question and answer would be helpful to other people. It does not mean that I’m your lawyer. Neither Jasso Lopez nor I represent you as your lawyer unless you have signed an engagement letter with Jasso Lopez.
Also, the likelihood that I will provide a thoughtful response to a question increases if the question is well thought out. Please don’t contact me as a substitute for hiring your own attorney.
My hourly rate is competitive and significantly lower than it was when I practiced with larger law firms. Also, I occasionally provide companies with discounts off my billing rate, depending on several factors. I also may accept fixed fee engagements. However, these require a clear description of the scope of services that will, and will not, be provided.
While Jasso Lopez does occasionally defer fees for certain kinds of work, we cannot do so for M&A deals. We require a retainer to commence M&A engagements.
- What M&A is
- Key deal participants and their roles
- Progression of a typical transaction
- Differences in common transaction structures
- Duties to minority investors in M&A deals
- An introduction to public M&A
- Pre-signing considerations (NDAs, exclusivity, standstills, letters of intent, auctions, etc.)
- Examinations of common reps and warranties
- Risk-shifting provisions (e.g., MAE, knowledge and materiality qualifiers)
- Purchase price (e.g., earnouts)
- Typical ancillary agreements
- Pre- and post-closing covenants
- Closing conditions
- Fiduciary duties
- Dissenters’ rights
- Hostile M&A
- Securities law issues (e.g., disclosure on Form 8-K)