On February 6, 2025, Williams & Connolly partner John Villa led the panel titled “Ethical Traps for the M&A Practitioner” at PLI’s 2025 Mergers & Acquisitions: Advanced Trends and Developments Program.  The panel dealt primarily with conflicts in M&A transactions and three recent ABA formal opinions that address the duties of inquiry where a lawyer suspects that a client may be using the lawyer’s services to further a crime or fraud. This program is available to PLI members through their library.

John is Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Services and Banking practice group.  He focuses on the defense of law firms in malpractice suits, and corporate, securities and financial services-related litigation.  In 2024, Chambers USA named John a “Star Individual,” the publication’s highest honor, in its first-ever USA rankings in the Law Firm Defense category, citing client reports that “John is the ultimate lawyers’ lawyer.”  He has authored three treatises on the duties of lawyers and corporate directors and financial crimes, and a casebook on professional ethics.

Click here to learn more about this program.