Jonathan K. Layne, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Century City office, joined the Firm in 1979.  Mr. Layne is Co-Chair of the Firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Group and is a member of the Firm's Executive Committee.  He focuses on mergers and acquisitions, public offerings of equity (including IPOs) and debt, corporate finance and securities law, and has extensive experience in Board of Directors, Special Board Committee and corporate governance representations.

Mr. Layne is a graduate of The College of William and Mary where he earned a B.A. in economics and of Emory University School of Law and Emory University Goizueta Business School, where he received a joint JD/MBA degree.  He graduated from law school with distinction and was a member of the Order of the Coif and Managing Editor of the Emory Law Journal and he graduated from graduate business school as a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honor society.

Mr. Layne is a member of the Business Law Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California, and of the Business and Corporations Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.  Mr. Layne is a member of the Board of Directors of the California Chamber of Commerce and is a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of The John Thomas Dye School, an independent elementary school.  He also is a frequent lecturer on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities law topics.

Mr. Layne has been selected by Chambers and Partners as a Leading Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyer for 2005 through 2008 and as a Leading Capital Markets: Debt & Equity Lawyer for 2007 and 2008 for its Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business directories.  He also has been named among "The Best of the Bar" for Corporate Transactions by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2007.