Ellen Odoner heads the firm's Public Company Advisory Group, which advises US public companies and US-listed foreign private issuers on corporate governance, SEC disclosure, financial restatements and internal control matters. She is one of the leaders of the firm's high-stakes corporate counseling team. She also specializes in merger & acquisition and securities transactions, particularly those with cross-border elements.
Ms. Odoner represents boards of directors, audit committees, special committees of independent directors, disclosure committees and legal and financial officers of US and non-US companies.
She has extensive experience representing non-US companies in the US and in structuring multi-jurisdictional transactions to harmonize US and non-US regimes and obtain innovative SEC relief.
Representative transactions include GE’s cross-border acquisitions of Wellstream plc and Amersham plc and $15 billion public capital raise and investment by Berkshire Hathaway; Tyco Electronics’ cross-border reincorporation; Reuters’ acquisition by The Thomson Corporation; Whirlpool's acquisition of Maytag; various acquisitions by L’Oreal S.A; Pirelli SpA’s sale of its optical components business to Corning; and numerous acquisitions, disposals and demergers by non-US companies including Hanson plc, Invensys plc and BPB plc.
Ms. Odoner assisted the Financial Crisis Advisory Group established to advise the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board on the standard-setting implications of the global financial crisis. She lectures on SEC, governance and M&A developments and co-chaired an ABA Task Force on the SEC's cross-border exemptions.
Ms. Odoner is also active in the firm's diversity and pro bono initiatives. She was the founding chair of Women@Weil and leads the firm's representation of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She was inducted into the YWCA's Academy of Women Leaders and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Hunter College Foundation.
Ms. Odoner is recognized in Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America and in various other publications on both sides of the Atlantic.