Latham & Watkins LLP‘s offering to boards on shareholder activism continues to impress, and was strengthened further in March 2023 with the hire of Ian Nussbaum to its New York office from Cooley LLP. He joined a practice that has extensive experience supporting public companies at every stage of activism planning, proxy contest defense, and activism campaigns. The team is well versed in facing the major activist funds in the US and pools knowledge from its experts in insurance counseling, public company representation, litigation, ESG, and M&A. Chris Drewry (Chicago) is, along with Nussbaum, praised for showing ’incredible judgment‘; he co-leads the department with Josh Dubofsky (Silicon Valley and New York), whose broad transactional practice includes substantial corporate governance and shareholder activism counsel. Tiffany Campion (Chicago) is a key contact for takeover defense work, leading that sub-group, and Michele Anderson (Washington, DC) is an expert on SEC regulation.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘The shareholder activism team at Latham is unmatched in my view. The level of thoughtfulness, strategy and insight they were able to provide would be difficult to exceed. Not only did they deliver a well-thought-out strategy, they picked up on small nuances that ended up making a significant impact for us. At every turn of the process, they were accessible 24/7 and although we were a smaller client, it felt as if we were the most important case they were supporting.'

  • 'The team at Latham is incredibly well connected and can move mountains when called upon to do so. Cannot recommend them highly enough.’

  • ‘Chris Drewry and Ian Nussbaum embody everything about the outstanding service from Latham. They were highly engaged, supportive, strategic and thoughtful about our engagement. Chris and Ian have incredible judgment and balance a thoughtful, conservative approach with selective aggressiveness when called for. Strongest possible recommendation for Chris and Ian collectively and personally.’

  • 'Latham is synonymous with best-in-class legal advice and corporate counsel - the best of the best.'

  • 'Chris Drewry and Josh Dubofsky are smart, poised, deeply experienced, classy and deep protectors of their clients' best interests in complex, fast-paced, multi-party, high-profile matters.'

Key clients

  • IHS Holding Limited
  • Abcam plc
  • Mind Medicine
  • MarketWise, Inc.
  • IAA, Inc.
  • Sculptor Capital Management
  • Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd.
  • Syneos
  • Berry Global, Inc.
  • Kohl's Corporation
  • Mercury Systems
  • Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Shift Technologies, Inc.
  • Shift4 Payments, LLC
  • Harmony Biosciences Holdings, Inc.
  • Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc.
  • Green Plains Inc.
  • Zevra Therapeutics, Inc.
  • Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.
  • Hippo Holdings

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners: Advice to boards
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Chris Drewry, Josh Dubofsky

Other key lawyers

Ian Nussbaum, Michele Anderson, Tiffany Campion