James Hu is a first-chair M&A lawyer who counsels investors, boards of directors, senior executives and founders on strategic, legal and business matters in all types of M&A transactions, including leverage buyouts, public company mergers, corporate carve-outs, minority investments and distressed situations. James advises transactions across the industry spectrum, with substantial experience in the technology, life science & healthcare and consumer space. Over the course of his career, James has advised on announced M&A transactions with an aggregate value of over $100 billion. A practical and strategic negotiator, James is known to maintain a constructive deal dynamic and deliver efficient execution.

Having represented prominent financial sponsors and multiple Fortune 500 companies, James brings a wealth of experience to the table on both the buyside and sellside and is often credited with effectively bridging the gap between the parties and identifying creative solutions. A thought-leader and prolific publisher in M&A, James also serves as an adjunct professor at Cornell Law School and Cornell Tech since 2020, where he teaches an upper-class course on M&A, and served as a member of Law360’s M&A Editorial Advisory Board, where he provided input to its reporters on M&A coverage. Recognizing his accomplishment in deal making, Law 360 also named James a Rising Star in 2023, a designation for attorneys under 40 “whose legal accomplishments belie their age.”