Email address
Phone number
Education
LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center (with distinction)
J.D. / M.B.A., University of Richmond (cum laude)
B.A., The College of William & Mary (cum laude)
Bar
Virginia
District of Columbia
Bio
Jim Van Horn is a partner with Hills Sterns and has represented a wide range of investment market participants and corporate clients for over 20 years. He provides counsel on investment, securities, regulatory, and general corporate matters, working with various institutional investors, such as university endowments, public pension plans, family offices, developmental financial institutions, and OCIOs. Mr. Van Horn has extensive experience helping such clients with the legal matters of evaluating and negotiating investments in private investment funds, separately managed account agreements, co-investments, and secondary market transactions.
Mr. Van Horn also works with both domestic and foreign investment advisers, helping them navigate the regulatory requirements of U.S. federal and state regulators, as well as self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Association (FINRA). He has advised clients on a wide variety of such matters, including registration and compliance requirements (and exemptions) under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act, the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules and regulations adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and SROs, including FINRA and the National Futures Association (NFA).
Mr. Van Horn represents private investment fund advisers both in the U.S. and globally on legal matters relating to the structure and formation of domestic and offshore private investment funds, co-mingled funds, private fund offerings, secondary transactions (including GP-led secondary transactions), and ongoing regulatory compliance (including reviewing marketing materials, offering memorandum and subscription documents for compliance with U.S. federal securities laws and regulations). He has worked with private fund advisers across numerous strategies and asset classes, including leveraged buyout, credit strategy, real assets, private lending, and various hedge fund strategies (long/short, market neutral, event-driven, and activist).
Throughout his entire legal career, Mr. Van Horn has focused on securities and financial regulation. Widely considered a thought leader, he has published numerous articles on various regulations adopted by the SEC and FINRA, prepared comment letters to the SEC regarding proposed rules, and delivered presentations at various industry trade groups and legal forums on such matters. He regularly provides guest lectures at the George Washington University School of Business to undergraduate and graduate students and provides training services to clients on subjects including ethics in investing, the treatment of confidential and material non-public information, and the fundamentals of fund structures and terms.
Mr. Van Horn is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars. He received his B.A. in history and political science from The College of William & Mary, graduated, cum laude, with a joint J.D./M.B.A. from the University of Richmond School of Law and Graduate School of Business, and obtained his LL.M., with distinction, in securities and financial regulation from the Georgetown University Law Center.
