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SENIOR ADVISORY TEAM
SARAH TESLIK
Sarah Teslik focuses her practice on investment, corporate governance, sustainability, reporting, investor engagement, board governance and related matters. She facilitates and connects clients to existing or potential shareholders and stakeholders, helping issuers to meet new sources of duration capital. Ms. Teslik drafts corporate disclosures such as proxy statements, climate-risk reports, shareholder decks, annual and corporate social responsibility reports, shareholder correspondence, executive speeches, and presentations. Additionally, she helps clients source director candidates, and volunteers services to diversity-focused organizations.
Prior to joining Greenspoon Marder, Ms. Teslik was a partner at the financial communications and investor relations firm, Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher in New York. She served as senior vice president of public affairs, communications & governance at Apache (APA) Corporation, as CEO of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., and was the founding Executive Director of the Council of Institutional Investors (CII). Before helping to create CII, she was an attorney at two large New York based law firms.
Ms. Teslik is featured or quoted in a number of publications, including Corporate Control Alert, Economie (French publication), Employee Benefits Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Worth, Directorship, Working Woman, The Washington Post, and The American Lawyer, among others. She is the creator and organizer of The Women in Governance Lunch and Governance Week, the Energy Governance Group and the ESG in Energy symposium. She was the author of a widely read monthly investment and governance newsletter and is a frequent speaker on subjects related to ESG, investment, and management issues.
Ms. Teslik earned her Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center, her Master of Arts in modern history from Oxford University and Bachelor of Arts in history from Whitman College.
BARBARA POMFRET
Barbara Pomfret is an expert in environmental, social and governance (ESG) asset management and investor relations. She advises senior business leaders and investors on issues relating to sustainability, corporate governance, ESG reporting, and related matters. With over 15 years of experience analyzing ESG investment risks and opportunities, Barbara works with clients to maximize the impact of their sustainability programs. Her guidance covers all aspects of corporate/investor communication and relationship building including outreach and engagement, reporting, ratings, regulatory compliance, and strategic planning.
Currently based in Europe, Barbara was previously a Managing Director at Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher in New York, where she was responsible for advising corporate boards and executives on ESG investor relations. Prior to joining Joele Frank, Barbara was the Product Manager for ESG at Bloomberg in New York and London. Barbara began her ESG career as a sustainability research analyst at Allianz Global Investors, in London and Frankfurt.
Barbara holds a MSc in Environmental Science and Technology from Imperial College London, and a BA in Geography from Oxford University. Barbara is currently studying for a MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration at the University of London.
REBECCA BRATTER
Rebecca Faith Bratter serves as the firm-wide deputy managing partner of Greenspoon Marder with over 19 years of tenure. She is responsible for the firm’s strategy and growth, internally and externally, as well as various duties including hiring and firm accounting. Ms. Bratter is the youngest leading member of the firm’s Executive and Management Committees, working closely alongside the co-founders. In her pivotal position of managing the day-to-day operations of a leading Am Law 200 law firm, Ms. Bratter serves on the firm’s Executive Litigation; Diversity; and Foundation Committees. She is managing partner of the firm’s Business Development group, where she assists attorneys in furthering their business efforts and expanding upon their existing clientele.
MICHAEL PATRICK
Michael Patrick is a globally focused governance and communications attorney at Greenspoon Marder LLP. He counsels clients on a wide array of high-stakes matters touching many critical corporate governance issues including global data privacy, risk management, commercial transactions, complex litigation, investment opportunities, intellectual property and regulatory and disclosure issues.
Michael’s communications expertise includes crisis management; traditional and social media risks and opportunities; licensing, publicity and advertising matters; defamation; privacy issues; investor engagement; and capital attraction opportunities.
Michael’s roles often include those of “outside general counsel” for which governance issues are of perennial importance. His core expertise includes handling ESG issues associated with sectors such as technology, fashion, firearms, luxury goods, entertainment, and consumer products.
Michael has a BA from the University of Virginia and a JD from George Washington University.
JEF McALLISTER
Jef McAllister is a London-based attorney, adviser and communications professional with extensive UK/European and US experience handling a range of the “S” or social issues in ESG: employment discrimination and harassment, DEI and social justice issues, bullying, defamation and other employment law issues. He is Managing Partner of McAllister Olivarius, and a partner of AO Advocates, a firm that works for survivors of child sexual abuse. He has been named a Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters.
Jef started his legal career as a law clerk for US District Court Judge Robert F. Peckham, Chief Judge of the Northern District of California. He then worked for Sidley Austin LLP in New York, representing banks providing financing for leveraged buyouts, Fortune 500 companies and foreign firms doing business in New York.
Jef’s extensive communications and writing experience includes writing over 500 articles and cover stories while serving as Diplomatic Correspondent, White House Correspondent and London Bureau Chief for TIME Magazine. He co-authored The Right Hand of Power, the memoirs of U. Alexis Johnson, a senior U.S. diplomat. Jef appears regularly on BBC radio and TV, and Sky News.
Jef graduated summa cum laude from Yale College, and with honors from Yale Law School. He obtained a doctorate in Modern History from the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and was a Luce Scholar in the Philippines. He is licensed to practice law in New York and Connecticut, and is registered as a foreign lawyer with the Solicitors Regulation Authority of England and Wales.
JEN FANTE
With over 20 years of experience in the field of accounting and finance, Jen Fante serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Greenspoon Marder LLP. She has spent the last 15+ years in the legal industry focused on budgeting, reporting, and financial analysis where she specializes in working with upper management in operational efficiencies and strategic planning. In her current role, she leads strategic finance and operational planning for the firm. Jen holds an MBA from the University of Central Florida, as well as a B.S. in Finance with a minor in Accounting.
MICHELLE FLEMING
Our executive assistant Michelle Fleming has spent her career working in the legal, investment and governance spaces. She has worked at major Wall Street law firms and firms in Washington, DC and Savannah, GA. She was an early employee of the Council of Institutional Investors, working with two Executive Directors over a period of 12 years handling a wide array of operational and member issues. Michelle is based in Georgia.