Jonathan K. Layne, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Century City office, joined the Firm in 1979 and is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee.  Mr. Layne 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 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.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the California Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Trustees of Emory University, and a past Chairman of the Board of Trustees and President of The John Thomas Dye School, an independent elementary school.  Mr. Layne also is a frequent lecturer on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities law topics.

Mr. Layne was selected by Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business as an international Leading Lawyer for Corporate/M&A (2013-2017).  Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business also ranked him as a Leading Lawyer for Corporate/M&A for Southern California (2005–2017) and Capital Markets: Debt & Equity for California (2007–2015).  Recognized for his creative approach to transactions, The National Law Journal named Mr. Layne as a 2016 "Mergers & Acquisitions and Antitrust Trailblazer" which honors innovators in mergers and acquisitions and antitrust law for excellence in deal making, restructuring and financing.  BTI Consulting named Mr. Layne to its 2014 Client Service All-Stars list, featuring lawyers identified by in-house counsel as those who provide "the absolute best client service" and he has been named to the Daily Journal‘s list of "Top 100 Lawyers in California" for 2014.  He also has been named among "Most Influential M&A Advisors" and "The Best of the Bar" for Corporate Transactions by the Los Angeles Business Journal and was featured in Who’s Who Legal’s M&A and Governance 2016 guide.  Mr. Layne has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2006 and was named 2016 Los Angeles Securities / Capital Markets Law Lawyer of the Year; in addition, he was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© as the leading Los Angeles Securities / Capital Markets Law Lawyer.  The honor recognizes a single lawyer in each practice area and community with the "Lawyer of the Year" recognition after exhaustive peer-review surveys that examine the professional abilities, current practice, and experience of each lawyer.