Eric M. Fogel

Eric Fogel is a strong force in the world of corporate law and a nationally recognized M&A specialist. With three decades of experience, Eric has served as lead counsel on some of the country’s largest and most complex transactions, including real estate transactions, and real estate purchases and sales. When clients are looking for a strategy on how to get the deal done, Eric Fogel is the attorney they call.

Eric is a partner in the firm’s Chicago office and chair of the Corporate & Securities Service Group. He handles global compliance, policies and procedures, complex contracts, joint venture agreements, mergers and acquisitions, insolvencies and restructurings, agriculture and cooperative law, private equity, chemical industry law, internal and external investigations, business ethics, global ethics and compliance training, FCPA, anti-bribery compliance, ITAR, EAR and OFAC counseling, product certifications and labeling, customs clearance, export control programs, antitrust counseling, regulatory response, FDA counseling, supply chain, data privacy and information security, data breaches, and REACH compliance. He has significant experience in federal and state securities laws, international business and law, advising Special Committees of boards of directors, Investment Advisor Act compliance, SEC interaction, mergers and acquisitions, financing, and assignments for the benefit of creditors. He closely advises chief executive officers, board members, and general counsel throughout the nation and has handled capital transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars. He often works with his clients in an “outside general counsel” capacity and counsels hedge funds, venture capitalists, and private equity firms in various transactions. Eric routinely advises clients on antitrust issues and compliance issues with respect to contracts, pricing, vendors, customers, distributors, franchises and joint venture partners, both domestically and around the world. 

Eric advises clients on cryptocurrency and blockchain issues including compliance, tax issues, manufacture of cryptocurrency product, SEC enforcement, Tokenization / ICO Solutions, Initial Liquidity Offerings (ILOs), “Bitlicensing” / crypto currency exchange license, digital asset custody, crypto mining guidance, digital asset trading platforms (exchanges), advisory opinions on legal status of specific tokens, anti-money laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) Best Practices, Howey Test and securities regulation. Eric serves as the co-chair of the Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and FinTech Group.

On behalf of his clients, Eric also manages complex corporate litigation and arbitration involving such matters as shareholder disputes, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties, securities laws, FINRA compliance, private equity, investment management and battles for corporate control, including proxy and tender offer litigation. He also handles employment agreements, executive compensation, and restrictive covenant agreements. His litigation and arbitration matters have been in federal and state jurisdictions across the nation.

With more than 30 years in the legal practice, Eric’s depth of experience and knowledge of the Chicago business market are unmatched. His practice includes: corporate and board governance for public companies and private (for-profit and not-for-profit); board and corporate investigations; fund formation, investment adviser compliance and regulation; insurance regulatory compliance; domestic and global merger and acquisition activity; representation before the Securities and Exchange Commission; tender offers and proxy fights on behalf of insurgents and incumbents; securities arbitrations and hearings; and securities law compliance including the 1933, 1934 and 1940 acts.

Prior to his legal career, Eric worked as a stockbroker, which provided him a unique opportunity to understand capital markets, their participants, and their driving forces. He also understands the pressures and realities that board members are faced with firsthand, having served on multiple public and private boards of directors himself.