Hayden M. Baker
Main image for Hayden M. Baker

Hayden M. Baker

At a certain point, an M&A deal can become so fraught with seemingly intractable issues that one might wonder if or how it will ever come together, especially on a tight timeline. It is at this moment that I excel for the benefit of my clients. I have an innate ability and comfort level with “quarterbacking” even the most complex deals, making sure that everything keeps moving forward and none of the balls we are all juggling as a team ever hit the ground.

Hayden Baker is a corporate attorney who focuses his practice primarily on mergers and acquisitions, as well as banking and capital markets. He regularly represents buyers and sellers in connection with both strategic and private equity-backed acquisitions and dispositions across a wide range of industries, including health care and manufacturing.

M&A deals often touch upon many different specialty practice areas, and Hayden works effectively with firm colleagues and specialists, receiving and incorporating their input, while continuing to focus intently on the core corporate details and nuances.

Hayden takes the time to understand a client’s business, but also understands what business means to a client. “Corporate transactions can be stressful, and—in the case of a sale, for example—often represent the conclusion of a lifetime’s worth of hope and hard work,” he explains. “It is my goal that my competence can serve as a source of reassurance, as I guide our clients through and to a worthy resolution.”

It is my goal that my competence can serve as a source of reassurance, as I guide our clients through and to a worthy resolution.

Hayden M. Baker

Areas of Focus

Education

Education

  • Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2018)
    • SMU Science & Technology Law Review, Articles Editor 2017-18; Staff Editor 2016-17
    • Don M. Smart Directed Research Award
  • Washington State University (B.A., Political Science, magna cum laude, 2014)

Admissions

Bar Admissions
  • Texas, 2018
Court Admissions
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District, Texas

Speeches/Publications

  • Author, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Issues First-Ever Federal Charters to Banks Specializing in Digital Assets, Carrington Coleman Capital Newsletter, 2021 Issue One (March 2021).
  • Co-Author, Professional Liability, 6 SMU ANN. TEX. SURV. 259 (2020).
  • Co-Author, Business Succession Planning for Baby Boomers, Dallas Bar Association Headnotes (November 2019).
  • Co-Author, Professional Liability, 5 SMU ANN. TEX. SURV. 291 (2019).
  • Author, Limited Liability Company Officers and Members Must Remain Aware of Instances Permitting Individual Liability, Carrington Coleman Capital Newsletter, 2019 Issue One (March 2019).
  • Author, Tales from the Crypt: The Securities Law Implications of Initial Coin Offerings and a Framework for a Compliant ICO, 46 Sec. Reg. L.J. 309 (2018).
  • Co-Author, Investor Fairness in Securities Arbitration: A Perceptional Issue?, 45 Sec. Reg. L.J. 259 (2017).
  • Co-Author, Landlord is “Knocked Off” by Tenant’s Conduct, ICSC Shopping Center Legal Update (Fall/Winter Edition 2017).

Outside of Work

I enjoy spending time outdoors, doing things such as snowboarding and mountain biking, with my wife often on the board/bike next to mine (since moving to Texas from the Pacific Northwest, biking has definitely supplanted snowboarding given the lack of snow here—which is fine, given this state’s great cycling trails). I also collect vinyl records and have amassed a pretty outstanding Doors collection. I play them on a standard turntable, paired with vintage speakers and my prized McIntosh amp, which my dad purchased new in the 70s and gifted to me when I started collecting.