Shaun Mathew

Practice Areas

Shaun is a corporate partner and a leader of Kirkland’s Shareholder Activism & Hostile Takeover Defense practice. Shaun has been recognized as among the top 500 lawyers in the United States, across all practice areas, and has been profiled 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. In addition, Shaun is a member of Kirkland’s Crisis Response practice group, counseling clients on governance and communications considerations in high-profile crisis situations.

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 a frequent speaker on shareholder activism and corporate governance. He has appeared on Bloomberg TV and has guest lectured at Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan Law School, 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 Financial Times, The New York Times, The Deal and Law360.

Shaun is a founding member of Kirkland’s South Asian Professional Network.

Personal

Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude; New York University, B.A., Economics & Politics, summa cum laude