James Standard

James Standard “Jim” is Of Counsel in the Atlanta office of Hall Booth Smith. With more than 28 years of legal experience, Jim advises businesses and individuals on complex commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, and tax-efficient business strategies.. He combines extensive legal experience with advanced education in taxation, finance, and business administration to help clients navigate sophisticated transactions and achieve their business objectives.

Jim previously spent more than a decade with Hall Booth Smith where he led the firm’s transactional and business litigation practice group and served on its management committee. His previous experience at HBS included representing companies in mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, divestitures, financing arrangements, and corporate governance matters, as well as advising on shareholder agreements, franchise agreements, employment agreements, and restrictive covenants.

Throughout his career, Jim has represented businesses across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, manufacturing, financial services, health care, telecommunications, and environmental services. His transactional experience includes representing companies in sales to private equity firms, structuring joint ventures and tax-free reorganizations, negotiating commercial agreements, and advising on executive compensation arrangements. He also counsels businesses on the tax implications of domestic and cross-border transactions, including corporate restructurings, spin-offs, and acquisitions.

Jim’s representative experience includes advising an investment fund on the acquisition of agribusiness and farming operations valued at more than $60 million, representing a manufacturing company in obtaining a $24 million credit facility, and assisting an international financial services firm with an acquisition facilitating its entry into the U.S. market. He has also represented companies in sales to private equity firms, advised on tax-efficient corporate reorganizations, and assisted businesses with complex shareholder and ownership arrangements.

In addition to his transactional practice, Jim has substantial experience representing companies and individuals in business litigation, commercial disputes, and tax controversies. He has handled matters involving shareholder disputes, director and officer liability, restrictive covenants, trade secret misappropriation, and contractual disagreements in both court and arbitration proceedings. This litigation background provides him with valuable perspective when structuring transactions, negotiating agreements, and helping clients identify and address potential business risks.

Jim earned his Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law. He also holds a Master of Science in Finance and a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, where he was elected to the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. He earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Georgia State University College of Law, where he served as Associate Lead Articles Editor of the Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis. During law school, Jim also studied international commercial arbitration at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria, completing the program with high honors.