Claudia H. Allen chairs Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s Corporate Governance Practice Group. She provides on-going counsel to boards, management and investors in public and private companies with respect to corporate governance matters and related issues, such as shareholder activism and engagement, shareholder proposals, defensive measures including shareholder rights plans, takeover preparedness, board/committee process and structure and fiduciary duties. Her practice also focuses on transactional matters, including private and public mergers and acquisitions and securities matters (including compliance with the Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley and JOBS Acts).
Claudia conceived and directed longitudinal studies of forum selection provisions in charters and bylaws (2010-12) and majority voting in director elections (2006-07). Her landmark studies and the trends they reveal have been widely cited, including in the Report of the New York Stock Exchange Commission on Corporate Governance. Claudia’s perspective and depth of knowledge on governance issues has made her a sought-after commentator and author for notable publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Handelsblatt (Germany), Nikkei (Japan), The Independent (London) and The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. She has also appeared on CNBC’s Power Lunch and Squawk on the Street.
Claudia is a recognized speaker on corporate governance issues. She has made presentations to organizations including the American Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel, Institutional Shareholder Services’ Governance Exchange, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals.
Claudia is an appointed member of the Committee on Corporate Laws of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. The Committee on Corporate Laws has jurisdiction over the Model Business Corporation Act, which is followed in whole or in part by a majority of states. Claudia chairs the Committee’s general review task force (which recommends amendments to the Model Act) and its task force on public company preferred stock. She served as Chairman of the 30th Annual Ray Garrett Jr. Corporate and Securities Law Institute at Northwestern University Law School, is a member of the Institute’s Executive Committee and has been a frequent speaker. Claudia also serves on the Coordinating Committee for the Delaware Business Law Forum, and is a member of the Advisory Board for Bloomberg/BNA’s Corporate Accountability Report. Claudia is a member of The Chicago Bar Association, the American Bar Association, Business Law Section and The Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Claudia has been selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America.