So we all love insurance. Well, actually that’s just me. Most people tend to tense up when they hear the word “insurance”. Organizations typically buy insurance based on catastrophic events that can cripple their business. I’ll never forget when I was twenty-two years old and had just become an insurance broker. I sat down with the owner of a sign manufacturing company. After fifteen minutes of talking about risk and their insurance needs, the owner turned to me and said, Nick, “I really have no idea what you’re talking about, just make sure that sh—is covered when it hits the fan.”

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Enjoy this series of shorts on Leadership from Jim.

How often in the last month have you used the “H” word? For most leaders, there’s a direct link between the number of H’s and the effectiveness of their leadership. That is, the more H’s, the better the results. Check out your leadership grade:

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Andy Shawber, Senior Innovation Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle, concentrates his practice on corporate and securities law, representing companies in all stages of their lifecycles, through formation, venture capital finance, IPOs, public company reporting, and mergers and acquisitions.

Laura Harper’s practice at Laura Harper, PLLC focuses on representing companies in all phases of the business life cycle.

We caught up with Shawber and Harper to learn more about the basics of business combinations for the first in our M&A 101 series.

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Giovanna Burns, a VP with Meridian Capital, plays an essential role in transaction execution and supports the Seattle-based firm’s business development initiatives. She has provided advisory services to middle-market companies across various industries on transactions including buy-side and sell-side engagements, IPOs, debt issuances and growth equity raises.

We caught up with Burns to learn more about the basics of investment banking for the second installment of PitchBook’s M&A 101 series. (Check out the first part here) The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.

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Paul Jin is a partner in Goodwin’s Antitrust + Competition practice. His antitrust expertise covers a broad spectrum of commercial transactions. His practice focuses on assessing transaction-related antitrust risk, negotiating terms of agreements, determining the applicability of merger clearance filing requirements in US and foreign jurisdictions, and advocating on behalf of clients before the FTC and DOJ in connection with informal inquiries, Second Requests, third-party subpoenas and conduct investigations.

We caught up with Jin to learn more about the basics of antitrust law for the third installment of PitchBook’s M&A 101 series. The interview below is edited for length and clarity.

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