James C. Olson Joins Joseph & Cohen as Senior Partner

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – February 10, 2020. Joseph & Cohen, Professional Corporation, proudly announced today that James C. Olson, a nationally esteemed lawyer and advisor with over 40 years of experience, has joined the Firm as a Senior Partner.

Mr. Olson expands the Firm’s financial services, bank regulatory, fintech, corporate and transactional capability. His expertise includes significant banking and financial services industry mergers and transactional experience, federal and state regulatory matters as well as extensive skill in corporate governance, commercial and corporate debt and equity finance, syndicated credit facilities, treasury matters, derivatives and other complex financial transactions. He regularly advises large and emerging business clients, non-profit organizations, private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and, more recently, various market participants in fintech and money transmitter matters, including new payment systems and lending platforms.

Jonathan D. Joseph, the Firm’s CEO, stated, “I am thrilled Jim Olson is teaming up with Joseph & Cohen and myself personally after we practiced together at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro in the 1990s and been friends for three decades. Among other things, we co-founded Pillsbury’s New York office in 1995 where we advised the then largest securities firm on the globe, helping them create the world’s first commercial loan securitization market.”

Mr. Joseph added “Jim and I have over 80 years of combined expertise in the financial services, bank regulatory and corporate marketplace and, along with our other Firm colleagues, we are even better equipped now to provide legal services equal to any AmLaw 100 or boutique firm.”

Mr. Olson added, “I am excited to join Joseph & Cohen and reunite with Jon Joseph, who I’ve admired as a colleague and respected as a leading corporate and banking lawyer.  This is a wonderful opportunity and I look forward to working with the Firm’s exceptional group of attorneys.”

Mr. Olson comes to Joseph & Cohen after a long tenure as a Partner and Of Counsel at Jones Day, one of the largest law firms in the world. There, he advised clients in the banking, technology, solar and agribusiness sectors. His representative clients included Apple, IBM, Sunpower, PCM, LinkedIn, Wells Fargo, Toyota and ICANN.

Mr. Olson has also long been active in the non-profit world having been a director and legal counsel to the United Way Bay Area for over 20 years. Most recently, he was the Vice Chair of the United Way Board.  For the last 10 years, Olson has been on the Board and is now Board Chair of HomeBase, The Center for Common Concerns, in San Francisco, which is a national nonprofit working at the state and national level to support communities in responding to homelessness through a team of 50 public policy lawyers and analysts.

Prior to his tenure at Jones Day, Mr. Olson was a Partner at Heller Ehrman, LLP, where he held various leadership positions, including Co-Chair of the Corporate Finance and Financial Services Groups and Co-Chair of the San Francisco Business Department, and represented clients in financing, M&A and cross border matters. He worked with clients in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and was a leader in developing and expanding their Asian practice.

Mr. Olson was also a Partner at Pillsbury Madison & Sutro (Now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP) in the San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles offices. There he headed the financial institutions and banking practice.

JCD Law, Professional Corporation, is a financial services law and litigation law boutique headquartered in San Francisco and emphasizes complex banking, credit union, corporate, private equity and financial services matters, regulatory and bank enforcement defense, private equity, employment and commercial litigation services.  Joseph & Cohen is known for sophisticated expertise, extraordinary commitment to clients, relationship-based services, and a range of specialized skills typically found only in the largest American law firms.

For additional information about Joseph & Cohen, Professional Corporation, please visit our JCD Law website.

Press Contact:  Jonathan Joseph at Joseph & Cohen, 415-817-9250 or [email protected].