Corporate Law Center Announces Spring 2018 Chirelstein Colloquium Schedule

The YLS Center for the Study of Corporate Law announced its Spring 2018 schedule for the Marvin A. Chirelstein Colloquium on Contemporary Issues in Law and Business, which brings leading members of the corporate bar, business and investment communities, judges and regulators to the Law School to discuss emerging practice and regulatory issues. Consistent with the mission of the Center to enhance the quality of students' educational experience and of faculty research, this term's Colloquium will begin with a conversation with the Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery on the history of the Court and the factors supporting the Court's continued eminence in corporate law, as well as the key principles of Delaware corporate law and how they should be considered in light of recent cases (e.g., Corwin, MFW, Trulia, and appraisal decisions). Other Colloquium speakers will touch upon white collar litigation and securities enforcement, will discuss the intersection between technology and law, and will give students an accurate picture of practice at top law firms today. 

The Colloquium schedule is as follows:

February 7 - Andre G. Bouchard, Chancellor, Delaware Court of Chancery.

The Honorable Andre G. Bouchard was sworn in as Chancellor of the Court of Chancery on May 5, 2014. Before his appointment, Bouchard spent twenty-eight years in private practice in Wilmington, Delaware, most recently as the managing partner of a corporate and commercial litigation boutique he founded in 1996. Before forming his own firm, Bouchard served as a corporate litigator in the Delaware office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Bouchard spent most of his youth in Delaware, graduating from Salesianum School in 1979. He received his B.A. summa cum laude from Boston College in 1983, where he was the recipient of the Edward H. Finnegan Award, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1986. He was selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholar from Delaware in 1981.

February 21 - Alisa F. Levin, Co-principal, Greene-Levin-Snyder LLC, Legal Search Group.

Alisa F. Levin, a recognized name in partner and senior level searches, built her search reputation on a distinguished career as a practicing lawyer in the Wall Street community. Following a clerkship with Chief Judge Charles D. Breitel, Levin practiced bankruptcy law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and White & Case, where she ultimately became counsel. After a very enjoyable six years at home with her young son and daughter, she returned to work as a legal recruiter in 1993 and in 1997 co-founded Greene-Levin-Snyder. Levin speaks frequently about and is regularly quoted on issues relating to legal careers.

February 28 - Jon Steitz ’07, Partner and Head of the Digital Payments Group, Financial Services Practice, McKinsey & Company.

Jon Steitz is the head of the Digital Payments group within the Financial Services Practice of McKinsey & Company. He offers advisory support primarily to banks and other financial companies, including asset managers, lenders, credit card issuers, and transaction processors. Working closely with executives, he helps companies better understand their customers and define more meaningful consumer segmentations. With these insights, clients then make more productive use of marketing and sales investments and pursue a broader range of product opportunities and strategies. As digital platforms continue to evolve, Steitz helps executives develop new digital products and pursue innovative business models. He was a right-handed pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, selected in the third round of the 2001 Major League Baseball draft.

March 29 - David Richter ’92, Global Head of Business & Corporate Development, Uber.

David Richter is Uber's Global Head of Business and Corporate Development, with responsibility for business development and strategic relationships. From 2011-2013, Richter was Chief Strategy Officer at Say Media. From 2010-2011, he was Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, of Sonic Solutions (formerly NASDAQ: SNIC), a leading video-on-demand provider acquired by Rovi (NASDAQ: ROVI) in February 2011. Before that, from 2004-2010, Mr. Richter was Executive Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, at DivX, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: DIVX), a digital media company acquired by Sonic Solutions in October 2010. At DivX, he led the following teams: business and corporate development, product and legal. Richter is a graduate of Yale Law School and Cornell University.

April 19 - Joanna C. Hendon ’91, Partner, Spears & Imes LLP.

Joanna C. Hendon is a Partner at Spears & Imes LLP, a boutique firm focused on complex litigation and investigative work in the areas of civil litigation, white collar criminal defense, and regulatory matters including securities enforcement. Hendon has been a litigator for more than 20 years, with substantial trial experience. She has been named by Chambers & Partners as a Leader in the Field of White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations. According to Chambers, Hendon "fields an impressive string of recent victories in criminal cases, including at the appellate level." Early in her career, Hendon was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. There, she served in the Securities and Commodities Fraud Unit and prosecuted cases involving securities fraud, bribery, mail and wire fraud, and tax fraud. During her years as a prosecutor, Hendon tried numerous cases and argued appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2000, she received the U.S. Attorney General's John Marshall Award, the Department of Justice's highest award for excellence at trial.

All Chirelstein Colloquiums are held at Yale Law School and are open to the Yale Community. Details are available at the Center's website.

Marvin A. Chirelstein inspired numerous students to pursue careers in the business and tax fields while he was the William Nelson Cromwell Professor at the Law School from 1965-82. A master teacher and distinguished scholar, Chirelstein's pathbreaking casebook with Victor Brudney on Corporate Finance (first ed. 1972) introduced modern finance into the law school business law curriculum and his guide to Federal Income Taxation, now in its 13th edition, continues to illuminate the arcane tax world to law students, for which all tax teachers are forever grateful.