Biography
In his practice, Adé routinely advises boards of directors and board committees on various governance matters, including internal investigations, leadership structures, self-assessments, independence determinations, executive compensation and succession planning, and ESG and sustainability matters. Adé counsels companies on sensitive matters, including crisis management, internal controls, accounting irregularities, and shareholder activism related matters such as proxy contests and shareholder proposals and engagement. Adé also provides day-to-day guidance on a variety of regulatory and rulemaking developments.
At Weil, Adé serves as Co-Chair of the Global Diversity Committee. He also has an active not-for-profit practice governance practice and has worked with many of the Firm’s pro bono clients, including the Innocence Project.
Prior to joining Weil, Adé served in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, providing interpretive advice on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, going-private transactions, proxy contests and shareholder proposals, and disclosure guidance concerning various SEC filings. Before the SEC, Adé worked in the investment banking division at Merrill Lynch, focusing on transactions in the Telecom, Media and Technology sectors.
Adé has been recognized by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as part of its Directorship 100, a list of the most influential people in the boardroom, and elected as a fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel. He has lectured extensively on corporate governance, SEC disclosure requirements, regulatory and rulemaking developments and is a regular contributor to Weil’s Governance & Securities Watch (blog). Adé is an active member of the NACD Climate Advisory Council and Compensation Committee Advisory Council, as well as The Conference Board’s Human Capital Management Committee. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where more than 100 members of the SEC Staff via the SEC University Program attended his class. Adé is a former Chair of the Federal Regulation of Securities: Proxy Statements and Business Combinations Subcommittee of the American Bar Association and a former Co-Chair of the DC Bar Association Mergers & Acquisitions Committee.
Adé is widely recognized for his work, including as a “leading lawyer” for Securities: Regulation: Advisory by Chambers USA, where clients note he is “a true partner who always provides practical solutions to the most challenging issues” and “an incredibly wise lawyer”; a “Leading Lawyer” for Corporate Governance and Shareholder Activism: Advice to Boards by Legal 500 US, where he is described as a “standout practitioner”; for M&A and Governance by Who’s Who Legal; as a “Best Lawyer” for Securities Regulation in Washington, D.C. by Best Lawyers in America; named among Savoy Magazine’s “Most Influential Black Lawyers”; and shortlisted as “Diversity & Inclusion: Lawyer of the Year” for Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Awards: North America.
Adé holds a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. in Finance, cum laude, from the University of Maryland.* Best Lawyers (in America) is by Levine Leichtman Capital Partners