Upcoming & Past Events

Kirkland & Ellis has graciously agreed to host this event, and our discussion panel on Shareholder Activism will be moderated by our new chapter partner, Alliance Advisors.  The panel will include Shaun Mathew, K&E’s leading activism partner based in NYC, and Ivan Marcuse, Vice President of Investor Relations at Huntsman (NYSE: HUN).  The panel discussion will focus on Huntsman’s recent proxy fight victory over Starboard.  This is a discussion you will not want to miss; seating will be limited, so please register today!

Panelists:

Ivan M. Marcuse
Vice President, Investor Relations | Huntsman

Ivan M. Marcuse is Vice President, Investor Relations. Prior to joining Huntsman in April 2017, Mr. Marcuse served as Director, Equity Research, Specialty Chemicals for KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. from 2011 to 2017.  Previously, he was Vice President, Equity Research, Building Products and Materials, for Northcoast Research. Mr. Marcuse is a CFA charterholder and holds a master's degree in business administration.

Shaun J. Mathew
Corporate Partner, New York Office | Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Shaun J. Mathew is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and is a leader of the Firm’s Shareholder Activism & Hostile Takeover Defense practice, which was named by The Deal as Activist Defense Law Firm Practice of the Year in 2020. Shaun has been recognized as among the best lawyers for activism and takeover defense in the United States by The Legal 500 and Chambers USA, and was profiled by Insider as one of “13 lawyers on speed-dial when companies and investors fight for boardroom control.”

Shaun counsels public companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism and hostile takeover response and preparedness, investor engagement, and corporate governance matters, including those related to diversity, sustainability and other ESG related issues. In addition, Shaun is a member of Kirkland’s Crisis Response practice group, counseling clients on
internal and external communications in high-profile crisis situations.

Shaun was recognized as a Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) in 2021 and is a founding member and New York lead of Kirkland’s South Asian Affinity Group.

His recent experience includes defending public companies and private equity sponsors in several of the most high profile challenges to M&A transactions, and he has defended clients against campaigns mounted by a number of activist investors including Starboard Value, Elliott Management, Alden Global Capital, Carl Icahn, JANA Partners, and Engaged Capital. Shaun is also a frequent speaker on shareholder activism, corporate governance and ESG topics and has guest lectured at Harvard Law and the University of Michigan Law, among others. His articles have been featured in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and he has been quoted in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Deal and Law360.

Moderator:

James (Jim) Miller 
Senior Managing Director in the Advisory Group | Alliance Advisors

Jim is a Senior Managing Director in the Advisory Group at Alliance Advisors. Jim brings more than 25 years of experience across multiple industry sectors to the team. Prior to joining Alliance, Jim served as Deputy Head of Research at ISS. While at ISS, Jim also served on the special situations team and policy committee, where he provided vote recommendations to institutional investors on proxy fights and oversaw the development ISS’s benchmark proxy voting guidelines, particularly those related to M&A, capitalization, SPACs, proxy fights, and mutual funds.

Jim is an expert on how proxy advisors apply their policies for contentious and non-contentious management and shareholder proposals. Jim’s participation in hundreds of engagements with companies and investors has enabled Jim to guide companies through a wide range of governance and takeover challenges. 

Jim’s prior roles include stints in corporate finance, M&A, portfolio management, treasury, business development and engineering. Jim is a frequent panelist and reports on prevailing and emerging trends on governance topics. Jim began his career as a test engineer and member of the military aircraft crash investigation team while at United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney Aircraft.
 
Jim holds an MBA from Cornell University and a B.S. in Engineering and Economics from UCLA. Jim is a CFA charter holder, a licensed CPA, and a life member of the California Scholastic Federation.