James Cole, Jr. joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1996 and was elected a partner in the Corporate Department in 2003. His practice focuses primarily on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate and securities law matters. His practice has included initial public offerings, corporate governance and legal compliance. He has advised a broad range of public and private companies in a variety of industries involving transactions in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Argentina.

He received his B.S. in Finance with honors from the University of Illinois in 1990. He received his J.D. from The University of Chicago in 1995, where he served as a comment editor of the University of Chicago Law School Roundtable. Following graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Stephanie K. Seymour of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Mr. Cole is a member of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. Board of Directors and of the Prep for Prep Board of Trustees. He also is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the National, New York State and American Bar Associations.  Mr. Cole is also a member of the Partnership for New York City's David Rockefeller Fellows Program.