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SENIOR ADVISORY TEAM

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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.

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.

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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.

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JULIAN HAMUD

Julian Hamud was most recently the Senior Director of Executive Compensation Research with proxy advisor Glass Lewis, where he oversaw specialized research and policy development around pay issues with a focus on North America. He has also worked extensively on compensation and equity issues for EMEA and APAC regions and has engaged with issuers and investors around the globe. Julian has a strong record of balancing the principle and the practical across a decade of focused experience in governance and compensation, and he has published heavily on ESG issues, special situations, and the changing dynamics between companies, investors, and other stakeholders. Julian has a master's degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and is a participant in the CFA Program.

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.

Backed by a
Full-Service Law Firm

The Senior Advisory Team at VMI is backed by the full-service capabilities of Am Law 200 firm Greenspoon Marder LLP.

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