Mark R. Wilson

Mark Wilson is a corporate and business attorney in Nashville, Tennessee. Many businesses look to Mark to lead their companies through complex transactions, navigate important governance issues, and provide trusted counsel to their businesses. Such matters often include start-up capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, corporate disputes, data privacy and security, and outside general counsel services. Mark works with companies at all stages of the business life cycle and frequently works with closely held businesses and high-growth and emerging companies across a variety of industries, including financial services, healthcare, technology, real estate, hospitality, and various lifestyle businesses.

Mark assists startups, founders, and entrepreneurs in initial entity selection and formation, and later in developing equity compensation plans, negotiating strategic commercial partnerships, and leading them through growth initiatives, acquisitions, and ultimately the sale of their businesses. Startups also frequently look to Mark to guide them through early-stage debt or equity financing rounds and venture capital fundraising.

Mark represents buyers and sellers of small and middle-market businesses in many industries, including technology, healthcare, real estate, financial services, hospitality, and consulting services. Clients look to him for strategic guidance through all stages of the acquisition process, from the letter of intent stage, through due diligence and definitive agreement negotiation, to closing and post-closing matters.

Mark represents departing partners and members in high-value business divorces and other partnership disputes, and often guides his clients through the transition phase of their next venture. In addition, he frequently represents closely held businesses and emerging companies navigate sensitive separation matters in connection with departing founders, executive officers, and shareholders.

Prior to joining Riggs Davie, Mark served as the privacy officer for a Fortune 500 publicly-traded company. Mark often leverages his extensive data privacy experience in advising startups, outside general counsel clients, and buyers and sellers in M&A transactions on various state and federal privacy compliance issues. Mark also guides businesses in the development of information security policies and procedures and provides executive and employee training on HIPAA and state-level data privacy compliance.

Many businesses also look to Mark as their outside “general counsel” for day-to-day legal needs. Mark supports business clients in this capacity in the following areas:

Many of these businesses benefit from the expertise Mark gained as in-house corporate counsel for a large publicly-traded company where he served as lead attorney on strategic commercial and technology transactions and data privacy matters. Mark’s unique in-house background also furthers the primary goal of his practice—to be a problem solver first. Mark believes in developing an intimate understanding of the businesses he serves, and as a result, often helps clients navigate the broader landscape of the difficult decisions they face.