CONTACT DETAILS

office@hoyalaw.com

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Business Transactions & Negotiations
Business Break-ups & Corporate Control Disputes
Securities Fraud
Complex Commercial Litigation
Commercial Real Estate Law
Professional Malpractice
Construction Law
Divorce Law

E
ducational and Professional Background

Mr. Simmons is an experienced business attorney and civil trial lawyer. His primary areas of practice are corporate governance and litigation of complex civil cases where the stakes are high, winning is essential and judgment and discretion are of paramount importance.

Since 1996, Mr. Simmons has advised and aggressively represented clients in a wide range of commercial matters including M&A negotiations, business break-ups, professional malpractice, securities fraud, international contract matters, divorce and intra-family disputes involving forensic litigation, employment law, business torts and unfair competition cases. He represents individuals, and small and mid-sized business (including D.C.-area 8(a) government contractors).

A Washington, D.C.-area native, Mr. Simmons received his law degree Magna Cum Laude from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1996, resulting in his appointment to the Order of the Coif. In addition to graduating with high honors, he earned the American Bankruptcy Law Journal Prize while still in law school. Mr. Simmons holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland at College Park, which he received in 1993.

Mr. Simmons spent two years with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s Delaware office, doing M&A and hostile takeover litigation.  There, he had the good fortune to learn Chancery Court practice before the nation’s premier business court under some of the nation’s most savvy practitioners. At Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, LLP in Philadelphia, he worked with a team of the region’s most talented litigators, before returning to Maryland in 2000.

This training and background have equipped Mr. Simmons to help individual and corporate clients grapple with a range of legal and business issues. He handles business matters of all types, including day-to-day corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, deal work and due diligence (for both investment targets, individual investors, and hedge funds), corporate control battles, executive employment disputes, intellectual property matters, complex tort cases and fiduciary duty litigation.

As an M&A attorney, Mr. Simmons regularly represents investees and investors in connection with venture capital funding rounds, including debt, convertible debt and equity rounds. He acts as transactional counsel for investment targets and investment funds seeking to make investments, and has substantial experience at shepherding deal participants through all phases of the deal process, including transactional negotiations, term sheet drafting, organizing, making and scrutinizing due diligence disclosures, drafting final deal document and conducting closings.

Mr. Simmons advises boards of directors and shareholders on corporate governance matters. His representation of corporate and LLC stakeholders includes a successful practice on behalf of minority owners resisting squeeze-outs, freeze-outs and other forms of shareholder oppression. In addition, he represents investors in FINRA arbitrations against brokerage firms and invidual stock brokers and financial advisors in cases of malpractice, securities fraud and related matters.

As a litigator, Mr. Simmons’ track record of success is not limited to the courthouse, but also extends to the negotiating table and formal Alternative Dispute Resolution processes. To date, he has conducted myriad out-of-court negotiations (often avoiding the costly litigation process altogether). He regularly mediates and arbitrates matters where appropriate. Using these tools, Mr. Simmons consistently succeeds at helping his clients obtain favorable outcomes prior to trial, even in situations where some in-court litigation is inevitable.

In 2017, Mr. Simmons became outside general counsel to 6Connex, Inc. and he has served as the company’s in-house general counsel on a part-time basis since early 2018. He continues to represent select clients on matters of interest in his areas of expertise, by appointment only.

B
ar Admissions
  • Maryland, 2000
  • Hawaii, 2008
  • U.S. District Court of Maryland, 2000
  • U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia Circuit, 2002
  • U.S. District Court of Hawaii, 2008
  • U.S. Court of Appeals District Columbia Circuit, 2006
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit, 2002
  • U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals, 2008
  • Delaware (retired)
E
ducation
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, District of Columbia, 1996
    J.D.
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude
    Honors: Order of the Coif
    Honors: American Bankruptcy Law Journal Prize
  • University of Maryland, College Park, 1993
    B.A.
  • Major: Economics
P
ublications & Awards
P
rofessional Memberships
  • Life Member Million Dollar Advocates Forum – The Top Trial Lawyers in America – 2010-present
  • Member Hawaii State Bar Association 2008-present
  • Member Maryland State Bar Association 2000-present
  • Member Delaware State Bar Association (retired)
  • Member MENSA 1995-present
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