Elizabeth Bieber > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
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Elizabeth Bieber
Work Department
Corporate advisory | Corporate and M&A
Position
Partner
Career
Elizabeth a partner and head of shareholder engagement and activism defense in New York. Leza focuses on activism and takeover defense preparedness and corporate governance matters. She also advises on debt and equity capital markets transactions, including IPOs, SPACs and de-SPACs.
Leza advises boards of directors and management on governance and crisis management, including stakeholder engagement; board and disclosure issues, including director independence, board and committee structure, securities law compliance, board leadership structures, board composition, listing standards, shareholder proposals, annual meetings; sustainability trends and ESG issues; proxy season trends; and succession planning, among other governance matters.
Leza is a recognized thought leader on governance and activism matters and was appointed to the editorial board of Corporate Governance Advisor. She has appeared on CNBC to discuss activism trends and Thomson Reuters Practical Law to discuss climate change requirements. For the past three years, Leza co-hosted Freshfields’ annual post-proxy season event with leading institutional investors to demystify investor views and expectations on sustainability disclosure and reporting requirements with hundreds of public company clients. She also regularly chairs a panel at Corporate Board Member’s Boardroom Summit on shareholder activism and engagement trends. She is the co-editor of Freshfields’ annual Board Memo, co-host of our webcast series on governance and disclosure updates and co-host of our governance podcast series. Leza is the only lawyer in the United States ranked as a “Rising Star” for corporate governance and is a key member of the Tier 1 corporate governance group, both as ranked by Legal 500.
Education
Leza holds a J.D. and a B.A. from New York University.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
(Next Generation Partners)Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP draws considerable praise from clients, who turn to the team for its ‘depth of knowledge’ and ‘client-focused practical advice’ on a broad range of corporate governance issues, including ESG matters, corporate compliance, and shareholder activism. The firms has continued its growth with the addition of several partners from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Among them are Beth George, who leads the strategic risk and crisis management practice at the firm, Megan Kayo, who regularly works with startups and Fortune, and Janet Kim and Andrew Dockham, both of whom have bolstered the team’s the litigation abilities. Practice head Pamela Marcogliese
, who splits her time between New York and Silicon Valley, is described as a ‘standout partner’, praised for her ‘depth of knowledge in the corproate governance and securities space.’ Elizabeth Bieber is noted for her ability to provide guidance on a range of corporate governance issues, including director fiduciary duties, board evaluations and stakeholder engagement issues. Silicon Valley-based Sarah Solum has extensive experience on capital markets transactions and corporate assignments for public and private companies hailing from the tech and life sciences sectors. Unless otherwise mentioned, all named practitioners are based in New York.
United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
(Next Generation Partners: Advice to boards)The New York-based team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has broad experience across all aspects of shareholder activism defense and preparation, from negotiations and settlement agreements, to poison pills and navigating wolf packs. Department co-head Elizabeth Bieber focuses her practice on activism and takeover defense preparedness and corporate governance matters. Leading the team alongside her is Ethan Klingsberg, who also co-heads the firm’s broader corporate and M&A offering. Damien Zoubek is familiar with shareholder activism defense scenarios across different industries, and Sebastian Fain is another key contact who regularly counsels management and boards of directors.
Lawyer Rankings
- Corporate governance United States > M&A/corporate and commercial
- Next Generation Partners United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Next Generation Partners: Advice to boards United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Shareholder activism United States > M&A/corporate and commercial
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Tax > Financial products
Firm Rankings
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- International trade > CFIUS
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Finance > Commercial lending
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism