D. Gilbert “Gil” Friedlander is a partner in the Dallas office of Weil Gotshal & Manges specializing in corporate, securities and general business law.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Friedlander was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). In these roles, he had oversight responsibilities for all aspects of EDS’ legal activities on a global basis and was responsible for EDS’ Office of Ethics and Business Conduct as well as coordination of Board of Directors meetings and activities. He also oversaw the “split-off” of EDS from its parent company, General Motors Corporation. Prior to his service at EDS, Mr. Friedlander practiced corporate, private equity and securities law for over 19 years.
Since joining the firm, Mr. Friedlander has conducted internal investigations, advised boards and board committees in connection with various governance issues, as well as generally, in respect to corporate, securities and crisis management matters. Mr. Friedlander represented the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Fossil, Inc. in connection with its publicly announced investigation into its stock option granting practices. He has also represented individuals and companies before the SEC and other regulatory bodies. He represented the Special Committee of 7-Eleven, Inc. in connection with its successful “going private” transaction. He represented the Special Committee of Southwest Airlines, Inc. in connection with a shareholder derivative action relating to certain alleged aircraft maintenance issues. He recently conducted and completed (i) an internal investigation for a Fortune 500 public company with respect to certain domestic and international matters, and (ii) represented a Special Committee of the Board of Directors of a major public company in connection with certain potential regulatory violations. He is currently representing a special committee of a major public company in connection with various shareholder allegations.
Mr. Friedlander was also responsible for the representation of Sunterra Corporation, a public company in connection with various matters including the tender offer by Diamond Resorts International, Inc.
Mr. Friedlander represents BancTec, Inc. which he represented in an acquisition by certain qualified investors in a Rule 144A equity offering and he continues to represent them in various “M&A” activities and in connection with the current filing of a registration statement for an initial public offering.
He also completed the sale of certain insurance subsidiaries owned by one of the firm’s Canadian clients, as well as the disposition of various assets and entities held by the bankruptcy estate of Lehman Brothers and recently worked on a major joint venture for a large public company.
Along with the firm’s bankruptcy group, Mr. Friedlander recently represented Blockbuster, Inc. in connection with its Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings and was responsible for overseeing the sale of all Blockbuster’s assets to Dish Network, Inc.
Mr. Friedlander is ranked by Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A for Texas.
He serves or has served as board member of Temple Emanu-El; The Vogel Alcove (Past President); Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas; Anti Defamation League; The Episcopal School of Dallas; The Jewish Community Center of Dallas; Dallas Holocaust Museum; The Dallas Theater Center and Baylor Health Care System Foundation. He serves as a member of The Salesmanship Club of Dallas.