John M. Paris, Jr.

For more than 30 years, John Paris has acted as a trusted partner and quarterback for his clients, both public and private, in various stages of growth. He has extensive experience representing strategic investors, venture capital and private equity firms in transactions and investments. John counsels clients on mergers and acquisitions; strategic joint ventures, licensing and corporate finance; securities offerings; SEC compliance; and general corporate matters. He is the chair of Williams Mullen’s Private Equity Practice, vice chair of the Corporate Section and chair of the Emerging Technology Practice. John is one of two co-founders of the Hampton Roads Business Hall of Fame and 757 Angels, the first angel group in the Hampton Roads area.

Almost all of the work John brings to Williams Mullen comes from referrals from existing and former clients, investment bankers, bankers, fellow attorneys, and often from those companies and other firms that John met while representing his clients against them.

John represents clients in a variety of industries including software, cloud infrastructure, financial services, health care, medical devices, IT staffing, medical consulting, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and distribution, food production, retail and technology. He also advises government contractors, with particular insight on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and systems matters.

John has significant experience structuring, forming and representing venture capital, mezzanine and buyout funds in their investments in portfolio companies. He also assists lenders and borrowers in PIPE transactions, as well as investors and portfolio companies in angel financings. 

In addition to representing underwriters and issuers in securities transactions, John helps publicly traded clients comply with corporate laws, securities laws and SEC regulations. He advises clients on 1934 Act filings, corporate governance, SBICs, franchising matters, REITS, insider-trading compliance, anti-takeover and fiduciary duty matters and has substantial experience in issues surrounding stock-based employee benefit and similar plans.

In addition to his roles with the Hampton Roads Business Hall of Fame and the 757 Angels, John serves as a member of the boards of directors for Virginia Bio, Virginia Beach Vision and Tidewater Venture Mentors. He is a board member and former president of the Virginia Venture Capital Forum, and he was formerly on the board of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and Junior Achievement of Greater Hampton Roads. In 2021, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Chesapeake Bay Academy.

John is an adjunct professor at the William & Mary Law School, where he teaches a class on Entrepreneurship and the Law. A frequent speaker, he lectures on M&A transactions, federal and state securities law, funding, venture capital and private equity topics.

He has been ranked by Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A Law (2019); listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Tax Law (2011-present), Corporate Law (2013-present), Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law (2023-present), Venture Capital Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2024-present); and listed in Virginia Super Lawyers for Securities & Corporate Finance (2010-present). He has also been listed as one of the Top Lawyers of Virginia by CoVa Biz Magazine (2017-present) and Martindale-Hubbell has rated him an AV attorney, its highest rating available. John is also listed among the "Legal Elite" by Virginia Business magazine (2020-present).

John is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1984.