Sean M Donahue

Practice Areas

Sean Donahue is Chair of the Public Company Advisory practice and Co-Chair of the Shareholder Activism & Takeover Defense practice of Paul Hastings, and he is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices.

Drawing on his previous experience as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, his practice focuses on counseling public companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism and takeover defense, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, securities regulation, and corporate governance matters.

Mr. Donahue spends a significant amount of his time advising public companies and their boards of directors on shareholder activism and takeover defense matters. He has been involved in hundreds of activism and takeover defense situations, including numerous high-profile proxy contests. Mr. Donahue has counseled boards of directors and management teams in navigating activist situations involving Elliott Management, Carl Icahn, Engaged Capital, Starboard Value, ValueAct, Lion Point Capital, Engine Capital, Voss Capital, Tang Capital, Highland Capital, Mill Road Capital, Legion Partners, Politan Capital, JCP Investment Management, GAMCO, Eric Singer, Brad Radoff, Global Value Investment Corp., and Kanen Wealth Management, among others. He also has significant experience advising public companies in responding to short attacks.