Law firm Cleary Gottlieb hires Alsheimer for activism practice

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, Dec 29 (Reuters) – International law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has hired an industry veteran to lead its shareholder activism defense practice as more law firms build out capabilities to protect clients facing corporate activists.  

Sebastian Alsheimer is moving to Cleary as a partner and will start in January, the firm said on Tuesday, confirming earlier reporting by Reuters. He comes from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he was also a partner.

“Shareholder activism is a feature of the market that few public companies can avoid today,” Cleary Managing Partner-Elect Jeff Karpf said in a statement on Tuesday. By adding Alsheimer, Karpf said the firm will expand its capabilities, “creating more opportunities to work with boards and senior leadership on solutions.”

At Cleary, Alsheimer will advise the firm’s corporate clients on engaging with activist investors as shareholder engagement and activism defense have increasingly become big business for law firms and banks.

The firm’s clients include 3M and BlackRock. It also said it has experience advising clients on campaigns led by activists such as Trian Partners, Third Point, JANA Partners and others.

By hiring Alsheimer, Cleary is adding a partner who has experience on both sides of shareholder activism, having represented targeted companies and also worked with the investors themselves.

He spent three years at Wilson Sonsini defending clients such as software design company Autodesk and financial software company BlackLine against Starboard Value and others.

Before that, as a partner at Olshan Frome Wolosky, a firm that traditionally represents hedge funds, he worked with prominent activists Elliott Investment Management and Starboard.

Cleary is the latest blue-chip law firm to beef up its capabilities in countering investors pushing for changes, ranging from refreshing the boards of directors to selling companies.

Earlier this year, Sullivan & Cromwell hired two partners from Vinson & Elkins; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison hired from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and White & Case hired from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett recently hired from a bank, adding the former head of shareholder advisory for the Americas at Barclays Capital.

Alsheimer ranks among a small group of lawyers who specialize in activism defense, including Sidley Austin’s Kai Liekefett, Kirkland & Ellis’ Shaun Mathew and Sullivan & Cromwell’s Lawrence Elbaum.

Alsheimer earned degrees from Harvard, Oxford, Columbia and Yale.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Lisa Shumaker)