Chase Cole is a partner at Waller Lansden. He has extensive experience in the areas of corporate law and governance, securities law, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions and venture capital financing. He also serves as chairman of the firm's corporate governance task force and chairman of the firm’s Opinions Committee.
Mr. Cole has handled numerous IPOs and public company mergers and acquisitions, including serving as counsel to special board committees considering such transactions. In addition, Mr. Cole has served as lead counsel to the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation and its Board of Directors in its formative stages.
Mr. Cole often counsels publicly held corporate Boards of Directors on Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance and corporate governance, serving as special counsel to audit, compensation, compliance and governance committees.
Mr. Cole has lectured frequently on corporate governance, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, public offerings, corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions and venture capital issues at various seminars and at Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management. Mr. Cole was named one of the “Best 101 Lawyers” in the State of Tennessee by Business Tennessee and as one of the “Best Lawyers in Nashville” by the Nashville Post. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward White, Inc.) and America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Chambers & Partners). Mr. Cole also is recognized in the Nashville Business Journal’s “Best of the Bar,” the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America and Mid-South Super Lawyers.
Education
J.D., Vanderbilt University, 1979
A.B., University of North Carolina, 1976
Professional Activities
Lectures frequently on corporate governance, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, public offerings, corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions and venture capital at various seminars
Guest lecturer on Public Offerings, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management Entrepreneurship Program
Member, Nashville, Tennessee and American Bar Associations
Member, American Bar Association Committees on Corporate Governance, Director and Officer Liability, Negotiated Acquisitions, Federal Regulation of Securities and Venture Capital
Co-Chair, Host Committee ABA Section of Business Law 2005 Spring Meeting
Member, Tennessee Bar Association Corporate Law Revision Committee
Fellow, Nashville Bar Foundation
Chair of firm's Corporate Governance Task Force
Former Chairman, Community Relations and Corporate and Commercial Practice Committees of the Nashville Bar Association
Chair, 2002 Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee Annual Campaign
Member, Dean's Council of the Vanderbilt University School of Law
Past member, Vanderbilt University's Alumni Board
Member, Society of International Business Fellows
Member, Board of Directors of the Nashville Capital Network
Member, National Association of Corporate Directors
Civic and Other Activities
Former Chairman, Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency
Member, Board of Directors and Tennessee Chair, Society of International Business Fellows
Member, Montgomery Bell Academy Alumni Board
Past Member, Board of Directors of Nashville Capital Network
Gubernatorial appointee to Tennessee Performing Arts Center Management Corporation Board of Directors; Chairman of the Board
Member, Leadership Nashville Class of 1998-99
Former Member, Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Nashville Symphony Association, also serving as Chair of its 2001-2002 Annual Fundraising Campaign
Member and former Chairman, Board of Belcourt YES!, an historic nonprofit theater
Founder, Director and past Chairman, Nashville Sports Council
Chairman, 1997 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Inc.
Active in the United Way, twice serving on the Cockrill Cabinet and a member of the Tocqueville Society
Member, Nashville Committee on Foreign Relations
Past President, Alcohol and Drug Council of Middle Tennessee
Former Member, Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell's transition team
Chair, 2001 Nashville Women's Political Caucus Committee of Men Who Believe in Women
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for the Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1992, 1993 and 1999
Frequent member of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's Inter-City Visit Delegation
