Key Contacts
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Corporate Governance
Corporate Governance
Our corporate governance practice includes advising on SEC and stock exchange requirements and helping clients to identify and understand investor perspectives and proxy advisory firm policies; advising on shareholder engagement, shareholder proposals, anti-takeover defenses, proxy access and emerging governance practices; addressing interactions with activist shareholders; and handling matters involving the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Dodd-Frank Act, JOBS Act, FAST Act and relevant state corporate law. We have advised numerous boards and management teams on key governance issues, including the design and implementation of board governance policies, committee charters, internal controls, disclosure policies, controls and procedures, whistleblower policies, succession planning and attorney reporting procedures. We also serve as independent counsel to a number of audit committees. -
Disclosure Issues
Disclosure Issues
Our disclosure experience includes advising on substantive and technical filing and disclosure questions. We routinely draft and review all types of reports, proxy statements and other documents filed with the SEC, as well as press releases and other informal market communications, and regularly assist clients in anticipating and responding to SEC staff comments. We have extensive experience in advising on compliance with Regulation FD, Regulation G and other requirements that apply to non-GAAP financial measures, Section 16 reporting and executive compensation disclosure. We work closely with our clients to address new disclosure requirements, such as conflict minerals reporting and the executive compensation rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, including pay ratio disclosure, and emerging hot-button disclosure issues, such as use of social media and corporate social responsibility issues.
Focus on Audit Committees, Accounting and the Law
Keeping Current With Form 8-K: A Practical Guide
PublicationsExperience
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Public Company Counseling
We regularly advise public company clients on corporate governance and disclosure matters, including: Akamai Technologies; Analog Devices, Inc.; Analogic Corporation; Dean Foods; Discovery Communications, Inc.; Genpact; MKS Instruments; PerkinElmer Inc.; Red Hat, Inc.; Skyworks Solutions, Inc.; State Street Corporation; and ThermoFisher Scientific Inc.
Recognition
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Named a Leading Corporate Practice
Chambers USA
2012-2018
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Recognized as a Top National Corporate Law Firm
Corporate Board Member
2014, 2016, 2018
- American Lawyer – The 2017 Corporate Scorecard report ranked WilmerHale among the top five law firms handling IPOs for issuers based on the number of transactions in 2016.
- Best Lawyers in America – Recognized 107 WilmerHale partners for 2018, naming nine as “Lawyers of the Year,” including Amy Null as Boston Employee Benefits Law Lawyer of the Year, Steve Singer as New York Corporate Law Lawyer of the Year, David Westenberg as Boston Technology Law Lawyer of the Year and Jonathan Wolfman as Corporate Governance Law Lawyer of the Year.
- Chambers Global – Recognized 27 WilmerHale lawyers and 17 practice areas, including our life sciences practice, in their 2017 edition. Among those named “The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business” were Mark Borden and Jay Bothwick for corporate/M&A; Steve Singer for life sciences; and Robert Finkel for outsourcing.
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Named our corporate practice among the best in 2012-2018, with sources saying that WilmerHale provides “excellent service and quality advice and representation.” The 2018 edition of Chambers USA also ranked WilmerHale in the following regions and practices: Massachusetts and Washington DC for Corporate/M&A; Nationwide for Startups & Emerging Companies; and Massachusetts for Private Equity: Venture Capital Investment and Technology.
- Corporate Board Member – In 2014, 2016 and 2018, WilmerHale was named to Top National Corporate Law Firms list, a comprehensive ranking of the top 25 firms in the nation. Results are based on law firm surveys and feedback from thousands of directors and general counsels.
- Law360 – Named WilmerHale a Technology Practice Group of the Year for 2016 and 2017, an award recognizing the firm’s key role in the significant matters that made headlines and changed the legal landscape within the past year.
- Super Lawyers – Our corporate lawyers are consistently recognized as “Super Lawyers” and “Rising Stars” in multiple jurisdictions.
- U.S. News - Best Lawyers® – In the 2010-2018 “Best Law Firms” rankings, our corporate law, mergers and acquisitions and venture capital law practices were ranked in the first-tier nationally and in Boston, along with our corporate law practice also being ranked in the first-tier in New York and Washington DC. Our technology law practice was also ranked in the first-tier in Boston and in the second-tier nationally.