The Law Office of J. Caldwell Guilds III is a boutique business, estate planning, real estate, and investment litigation law firm providing sophisticated advice to entrepreneurs, investors, and closely held business owners on the creation, protection, and distribution of wealth.  John Guilds is both an Attorney and a dually registered Investment Professional with FINRA.  John earned the Certified Private Wealth Advisor (CPWA) professional designation from the Yale School of Management and the Investments & Wealth Institute in 2020.  He formed the Law Office of J. Caldwell Guilds III in 2022 to work in conjunction with his affiliated business, Heriot-Guilds Private Capital & Investments, as a holisitic, integrated provider of tailored, strategic advice driving satisfactiory solutions to a variety of complex legal and financial issues confronting high net worth individuals and those aspiring to become one.

John is a member of the State Bar in New York, California, South Carolina, and Utah.  He earned a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center (Cum Laude) and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (Honors).  Before establishing the Law Office of J. Caldwell Guilds III, John worked as a real estate and M&A attorney in Barcelona, Spain with Bufete Pinto Ruiz and as a securities and M&A attorney in New York, NY with Latham & Watkins. He has approximately 15 years experience negotiating, structuring, and documenting complex, long-dated financial transactions as a Project Finance banker in South America, North America, and Australia.  

Focus on structuring, negotiating, and documenting financial transactions and strategic business combinations; trusts, wills, probate, and trustee services. Expertise in real estate & mortgages, bank finance & workouts, M&A, securities law, private placements, and project finance.  Adept at identifying and structuring around risk.  Securities / investment fraud litigation.  Highly skilled at transactional analysis, negotiation, structuring, and drafting documentation.