Jeffrey Lewis Hallos was born on July 18, 1963, in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. Youngstown was an important center of iron and steel production in the Mahoning Valley, a regional industrial environment that shaped the city's modern economic history.
He pursued higher education in Pennsylvania and New York before beginning his legal career. His academic record included distinction in economics at Bucknell University and honors at Cornell Law School.
Hallos received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Bucknell University in 1985, graduating magna cum laude and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Bucknell, founded in 1846 in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, is a private liberal-arts university whose curriculum combines broad undergraduate education with professional preparation.
He received a Juris Doctor degree from Cornell Law School in 1988, graduating cum laude. Cornell Law School, established in 1887 as part of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is one of the leading American law schools and has emphasized legal scholarship, professional training, and public service. During law school, Hallos served as note editor of the International Law Journal.
Hallos began his legal career with a judicial clerkship for Judge Joseph W. Hatchett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 1988 to 1989. The Eleventh Circuit, created in 1981 from the former Fifth Circuit, hears federal appeals from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and forms part of the United States federal judicial system.
After the clerkship, he practiced with Latham & Watkins in its Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., offices and worked in the firm's Hong Kong office. Latham & Watkins is an international law firm founded in Los Angeles in 1934 that developed a substantial corporate and transactional practice as American businesses expanded across national markets.
Hallos joined the Lexington office of the firm now known as FBT Gibbons in January 1996; the existing biographical record identifies the organization at that time as Brown, Todd & Heyburn PLLC. His practice has focused on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture transactions, international services, and matters involving energy, manufacturing, and industrial companies. He has represented domestic and foreign buyers and sellers in transactions involving private and public companies and companies establishing operations in the Midwestern and Southern United States.
At FBT Gibbons, Hallos has served on the firm's board of directors, chaired the Business Department, and led the Business Combinations and Capital Transactions practice group. He has also been identified as a partner and has maintained a Lexington practice serving clients in corporate and transactional matters. He was admitted to the California bar in 1989, the District of Columbia bar in 1991, and the Kentucky bar in 1997.
Hallos developed a legal practice representing domestic and foreign buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions, private equity transactions, and other corporate matters involving private and public companies.
At FBT Gibbons, Hallos served on the firm's board of directors, chaired the Business Department, and led the Business Combinations and Capital Transactions practice group.
Hallos has advised companies involved in energy, manufacturing, industrial, and international commercial transactions, including businesses establishing operations in the Midwestern and Southern United States.
Hallos has been affiliated with national, state, local, and international business organizations connected with legal practice and commercial development. His professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the Kentucky Bar Association, the Fayette County Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the District of Columbia Bar, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
He has also participated in the Kentucky World Trade Center, serving as a board member and chair of its Programs and Events Committee, and in the Bluegrass Peer Exchange Network. These organizations provide professional, commercial, and international networking opportunities for lawyers and business leaders.
American Bar Association , United States
Kentucky Bar Association , United States
Fayette County Bar Association , United States
State Bar of California , United States
District of Columbia Bar , United States
Los Angeles County Bar Association , United States
Board member and chair of the Programs and Events Committee.
Kentucky World Trade Center , United States
Bluegrass Peer Exchange Network , United States
