Our Professional Team > California > Jim Watts

Jim Watts

• 
• Managing Director
  jwatts@hunterwise.com
  Irvine, CA

During his 20 plus years in the investment banking industry, Jim's experiences have spanned the spectrum from raising funds for emerging growth and middle market companies to negotiating sale transactions with Fortune 500 company buyers. He has also prepared fairness opinions for corporate transactions and served as an expert witness in high profile litigation.

In 1995, Jim founded a firm eventually known as Pacific Summit Securities, where it earned the reputation as a leader in the PIPE (private investment in public entity) investment space.

Included in his expert witness role, Jim testified in Federal Bankruptcy Court in the liquidation of the Schwinn Bicycle Corporation. He represented a Bankruptcy Trustee in the Chapter 7 liquidation of the assets of a publicly held medical device company. He also testified as an expert witness in an antitrust suit against two Fortune 50 Companies and a major European corporation (hired by a former Director of Antitrust for the U.S. Department of Justice).

Jim began his career in Washington, DC as a Legislative Assistant for the U.S. Congress handling oil and gas deregulation. Later, he became a registered lobbyist and lawyer representing the organized venture capital industry focusing specifically on tax and securities statutes and regulations.

Jim is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. He holds Series 7, 24, 27, 63, and 79 securities licenses. Jim earned a BA in Economics at the University of Wisconsin, a MA in International Economics at American University, Washington, DC, and a JD at Washington College of Law.