Goodwin

Partner, Chair, Shareholder Activism and Takeover Defense

Leonard Wood is the chair of Goodwin’s Shareholder Activism and Takeover Defense practice. As a partner, Leonard devotes his practice entirely to shareholder activism campaigns, proxy fights, shareholder activism preparedness, strategic investor relations, and contested M&A. He has advised hundreds of public companies across all industries and sizes in shareholder activism defense, proxy contests, strategic investor relations, and hostile takeover defense. Additionally, Leonard has advised several of the world’s largest corporations on corporate governance and sustainability matters. Prior to joining Goodwin, Leonard was a partner at another global law firm where he played a central role in the development of a prominently ranked shareholder activism and corporate defense practice which achieved recognition across all significant rankings.

Leonard publishes widely on shareholder activism and corporate governance, with articles appearing in the Harvard Law School Corporate Governance Forum, The M&A Journal, Lexology’s “Getting the Deal Through” series, Law360, Insights, Agenda, and The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation.

Leonard holds a JD from Harvard Law School and a PhD from Harvard University and is a former editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Law Review. He was named to the Legal 500 “Next Generation Partners” list for both Commercial Shareholder Activism: Advice to Boards and M&A/Corporate (2026) and was named to The Best Lawyers in America’s “Ones to Watch” list for his work in both Corporate Governance and Compliance and M&A (2026).

J.D., Harvard Law School

PhD., Harvard University

MPhil, Oxford University

M.A., University of Pennsylvania

B.A., University of Pennsylvania