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Paul Swegle

Paul Swegle

From 2000 to June 2012, Paul Swegle served as General Counsel for ShareBuilder Corporation. In that role he was responsible for managing all of the company's and subsidiaries' legal affairs and advising the board and management team on all areas of law. From November 2008 to June 2012, he was also a member of the ING Direct Management Team. Paul helped grow ShareBuilder from startup to Capital One subsidiary. Among other things, he provided critical legal and regulatory support for two acquisitions totaling $9.7 billion and five complex private equity offerings totaling $60 million.

Before joining ShareBuilder, Paul served as director of law at Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. (NYSE: PCL), one of the largest timber companies in the U.S. At Plum Creek, Paul provided legal and regulatory support for SEC and NYSE reporting, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, major litigation and government relations. He began his career with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, where he spent five years investigating, litigating and prosecuting a wide variety of securities cases. In addition, he served two appointments with the Department of Justice as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to prosecute securities cases. He transferred to the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance in 1994, where he served as a senior attorney advisor reviewing hundreds of initial public offerings, mergers, acquisitions and other SEC matters.

Paul is the Chair of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Washington State Bar Association and was voted Corporate Counsel of the Year in 2012 by the Puget Sound Business Journal. He is also President of the Bellevue College Foundation and serves on the board of the Alliance for Pioneer Square.

Areas of Practice:

  • Contract drafting and negotiation
  • Corporate governance
  • Securities law
  • Mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions
  • Financial industry regulation
  • Employment law matters
  • Intellectual property
  • Marketing and promotions law
  • E-commerce

Admitted:

  • Washington State Bar Association
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington

Education:

  • University of Washington School of Law, 1988
  • University of Washington, B.A., Political Science; Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Activities, Presentations, and Awards:

  • "2012 Corporate Counsel of the Year" - Puget Sound Business Journal
  • "Crowdfunding Under the Jobs Act" - The Seminar Group, 2012
  • "Ethics for Corporate Counsel" - CLE Seminar, Spokane, 2012
  • "Seminar Chair and Presenter" - 2011 Corporate Counsel Institute
  • "Writing Success for In-House Counsel" - BarNews Magazine, February 2012
  • "The Role of In-house Counsel" - Seattle University School of Law, 2009
  • "Learning from Survivors of the Last Tech Bust" - Venture Capital Financing, 2009
  • "Preventing Harassment in the Workplace" - ING DIRECT, 2009
  • "Contract Drafting and Negotiation" - Washington Lawyers for the Arts, 2009
  • "Ethics for In-house Counsel" - Corporate Counsel Institute, 2009
  • "Getting the Most from Outside Counsel" - Corporate Counsel Section, 2008