Mark D. Wood

Mark Wood is co-head of Katten's Securities Practice, concentrating his practice in corporate and securities law. Mr. Wood represents issuers and investment banks in IPOs and other public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities and in other securities matters. He also represents clients in complex corporate transactions, including tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, going private transactions, private equity investments, joint ventures and strategic alliances, and is a leading practitioner in representing investors, public companies and placement agents in PIPE transactions. In addition, he counsels public companies on securities law compliance, disclosure, corporate governance and compensation-related issues.

Mr. Wood is a frequent speaker and writer on securities and corporate law topics. His speeches and publications include the following:

Speeches/CLE: Practising Law Institute, Understanding the Securities Laws, 2004–2012, Co-Chair, and 2001–2003, "Liability for Exchange Act Violations"; Chicago Bar Association Subcommittee on Private Equity, June 2012, "2012 JOBS Act—The New World of Raising Capital and Going Public"; Ernst and Young's IPO Readiness Conference, Panelist; Practising Law Institute, Drafting Securities Filings, 2010 and 2011, "Effects of '34 Act Registration"; Chicago Bar Association, Subcommittee on Private Equity, February 2011, "Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPEs) and Other Alternatives for Investing in Public Companies"; Practising Law Institute Briefing, December 2010, "US GAAP—The Evolution Continues...Recent and Expected Changes in US Accounting Rules"; DealFlow Media, The PIPEs Conference 2010, November 2010, "IPO Alternatives for Smaller Companies"; ACG InterGrowth 2010, May 2010, "Public Company Considerations—Implications of Being a Small-Cap Public Company"; DealFlow Media, The PIPEs Conference 2009, December 2009, “Digging for Gold in Canadian Companies”; Katten Private Equity Roundtable, June 2009, "PIPEs: A Deal Flow Alternative?"; Practising Law Institute, Securities Filings 2008 and 2009, "Risk Disclosure."

Publications: Bloomberg Press, The Issuer’s Guide to PIPEs, “Structured PIPEs: Convertible Preferred Stock and Convertible Debt”; ABA Section of Business Law, The Practitioner's Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, "Code of Ethics"; Practising Law Institute, Understanding the Securities Laws 2007 and 2008, "Liability for Securities Law Violations"; Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Securities Law, "Corporate Transactions in the Securities Context, including Tenders, Exchanges and Going Private Transactions"; Shareholder Value Magazine, July/August 2001, "Treading Water" (article regarding repricing of underwater stock options).

Mr. Wood is a member of the NASDAQ Public Policy Advisory Group and the Executive Committee of the Ray Garrett Jr. Corporate and Securities Law Institute at Northwestern Law School. He is also an active member of the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and a member of the Chicago Bar Association, where he previously served as chairman of the 1934 Act Reporting Subcommittee of the Securities Law Committee.

Mr. Wood is listed in The Best Lawyers in America as a leader in his field (2010–2013).

Mr. Wood earned a BS in accountancy, with high honors, from the University of Illinois and graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a Registered Certified Public Accountant.