Edward William Bates II
Adjunct Professor of Law
Areas of Expertise
- Business Organizations Law
- Contracts
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate Law
- Securities Law
Biography
Bill Bates joined the faculty as an adjunct professor in 2019, teaching Contract Drafting during the fall semester. He also has been a guest lecturer for Dean Brinkley’s Mergers & Acquisitions course. Bates attended UNC School of Law where he was an editor of the UNC Law Review and graduated with honors. He retired from the law firm of King & Spalding, LLP effective as of December 31, 2013, where he spent his entire legal practice career, initially in the Atlanta office but for the last 21 years of his practice in the firm’s New York office. He was a partner in the Corporate Practice Group and Co-Head of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisition Practice. His experience included representing buyers and sellers in mergers, stock and cash acquisition transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and his practice routinely involved rendering advice on various corporate and corporate governance matters. A significant part of his practice historically involved the representation of companies and underwriters in public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities. Bates was included in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America (and had been so included since 2005); had been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America by Corporate magazine; had been named a New York Super Lawyer by Law & Politics; and had been included in the “Top 10 List” of merger and acquisition lawyers by United States Lawyer Rankings. In 2011 he was name a “Deal Maker of the Week” by The AmLaw Daily.
Education
- J.D., with honors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1979)
- B.A., with highest honors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1976)