John H. Roth

John focuses his practice on providing a full suite of legal and compliance services to investment management firms and other financial services companies, as well as corresponding services to investors in various financial products.

Representative Services

• Provide general counsel and compliance officer guidance
• Structure hedge funds and private equity funds (including formation, offering memoranda, investment management agreements and side letters)
• Negotiate investment management agreements for separately managed accounts
• Create compliance policies and procedures for investment advisers
• Represent SEC-registered investment advisers with Division of Examination inspections
• Assist with legal, compliance and operational due diligence
• Provide support to trading desks respecting securities law questions, trade settlement and trade restrictions

Prior to joining Maynard Cooper, John served in multiple in-house legal and compliance positions in Alabama, New York and Connecticut, including serving as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of a hedge fund management firm in New York and Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of a financial services firm with offices in New York, Hartford (CT), Los Angeles and London. In those roles, John supported multiple investment strategies, including distressed investment, special situations and collateralized loan obligation (CLO) strategies, as well as a collateralized fund obligation (CFO) strategy.

John has published articles in The Alabama Lawyer, The Hedge Fund Law Journal, The Hedge Fund Law Report and the B.Y.U. Education & Law Journal and was interviewed for Modern Counsel Magazine. He has also spoken at several industry conferences in New York, Washington, D.C., Greenwich (CT), Palm Beach (FL) and the Cayman Islands sponsored by the Regulatory Compliance Association, Compliance Reporter, Operations for Alternatives, HFM, the National Society of Compliance Professionals, the American Conference Institute and Bloomberg Vault.

John serves on the Harbert Advisory Council for the Harbert College of Business of Auburn University where he and his wife funded the Roth Family Professor of Marketing and Business Ethics. John has taught at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development of New York University, and his doctoral research at NYU focused on ethical decision-making in the investment management industry.

• Dean’s Advisory Council, Raymond J. Harbert College of Business of Auburn University (2015-present)
• Board of Directors, Greenwich Center for Hope and Renewal (2014-2016)

• The Effective Counselor, The Alabama Lawyer (May 2016)
• Applying Principles-Based Regulation to a Numbers-Based Industry, Modern Counsel Magazine (April/May/June 2016) (in-house counsel profile by Amanda Garcia)
• Compliance Calendars and the New Year, HFMWeek (Jan. 28, 2014)
• Power Down in the Hedge Fund Industry, The Hedge Fund Law Journal (Nov. 2013)
• Does Social Media Have a Place in the Hedge Fund Industry?, The Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Jan. 12, 2012)
• The Use of Data in Affirmative Action Litigation, New Directions for Institutional Research, no. 138 (2008) (with Michael S. Harris)
• Education Funding and the Alabama Example: Another Player on a Crowded Field, Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal (2003)
• The Detrimental Reliance Factor in Judicial Estoppel Theory as Applied to Bankruptcy Cases in Alabama: Inadvertent Confusion or Purposeful Innovation?, Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice (2002) (with Leslie S. Ennis)
• The Disparate Treatment of Nonqualified Preferred Stock: Yet Another Tax Classification Nightmare?, Cumberland Law Review (2002)

• “Investment Management,” A Day of SEC Updates & Developments sponsored by the Westchester/Southern Connecticut Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Greenwich, CT (May 4, 2018) (panel discussion)
• “The Latest Marketing Regulatory Issues,” 10th Annual Hedge Fund General Counsel and Compliance Officer Summit sponsored by Corporate Counsel, New York, NY (Sep. 28, 2016) (panel discussion)
• “SEC Hot Button Issues,” 2016 Webinar Series sponsored by MyComplianceOffice (Apr. 27, 2016) (webinar discussion)
• “Regulatory Risk: Exams, Investigations and Penalties,” 2015 Hedge Fund Seminar sponsored by Crystal & Company, New York, NY (May 27, 2015) (panel discussion)
• “Cyber Security and the CCO: Meeting Regulators’ Expectations and Beating the Hackers,” Breakfast Briefing sponsored by ComplianceReporter, New York, NY (May 21, 2015) (panel discussion)
• “Strategies for Managing Conflicts of Interest and Promoting an Ethical Firm Culture,” Alternative Investment General Counsel Summit, New York, NY (May 29, 2014) (panel moderator)
• “Conflicts of Interest for Alternatives – Emerging Areas of Focus,” Spring 2014 Regulation, Operations & Compliance Symposium sponsored by the Regulatory Compliance Association, George Town, Cayman Islands (Mar. 13, 2014) (panel discussion)
• “Managing Fund Advertising in Light of the JOBS Act,” Operations for Alternatives, Palm Beach, FL (Mar. 6, 2014) (panel discussion)
• “Writing Policies and Procedures for Private Funds,” 2012 National Meeting of the National Society of Compliance Professionals, Washington, DC (Oct. 23, 2012) (panel discussion)
• “Legally Speaking: How to Communicate with Investors,” US Hedge Fund Legal Summit sponsored by HFM, White Plains, NY (Jun. 27, 2012) (panel discussion)
• “Dodd-Frank: Implications for Hedge Fund Compliance,” sponsored by Bloomberg Vault, New York, NY (Oct. 5, 2011) (panel discussion)
• “Risk Assessment Processes to Reinforce Accountability and Increase Efficiencies,” Forum on Financial Institution Regulatory Compliance Risk Management sponsored by the American Conference Institute, New York, NY (May 5, 2011) (panel discussion)
• “Insider Trading – Analyzing and Addressing the Latest Enforcement Initiatives,” Spring 2011 Asset Management Thought Leadership Symposium sponsored by the Regulatory Compliance Association, New York, NY (Apr. 7, 2011) (panel discussion)