The Ninth Annual Berkeley Spring Forum on M&A and the Boardroom

Adam Badawi is a Professor of Law at UC Berkeley. He writes widely on issues of law and finance with an emphasis on corporate governance, corporate transactions, and shareholder litigation. Much of his recent work uses text analysis and machine learning to analyze debt agreements, merger documents, and shareholder class action complaints. At Berkeley Law, he teaches Contracts, Corporations, Mergers and Acquisitions, and seminars related to these topics.

His research includes Does Voluntary Financial Disclosure Matter? The Case of Fairness Opinions in M&A (forthcoming, The Journal of Law and Economics) (co-authored with Matthew D. Cain and Steven Davidoff Solomon), How Informative is the Text of Securities Complaints? (forthcoming, Journal of Law, Economics & Organization), Social Good and Litigation Risk (forthcoming, Harvard Business Law Review) (co-authored with Frank Partnoy); and Is There a First-Drafter Advantage in M&A?, California Law Review (2019, California Law Review) (co-authored with Elisabeth de Fontenay) (selected as one of the top 10 corporate and securities articles of 2019 by Corporate Practice Commentator).

Prior to joining the faculty of Berkeley Law in 2017, Badawi was a Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. He has been a Visiting Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and he served as a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. Before joining the academy he was a litigator in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and was a law clerk to the Hon. Michael McConnell of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Professor Gadinis’ research examines questions in corporate law and financial regulation, both domestic and international. He is particularly interested in the interplay between companies and regulators, exploring the institutional framework for law enforcement, compliance, and risk management. In the last few years, he has focused on sustainability and social issues as an attempt to expand the scope of corporate governance. In Corporate Law and Social Risk (co- authored with Amelia Miazad) (2020 Vanderbilt Law Review), the focus is on stakeholder outreach as a governance system seeking to identify and address social risks for the business. In a follow-up article, A Test of Stakeholder Capitalism (co-authored with Amelia Miazad), they explore how corporations relied on feedback from stakeholders to address the implications of the Covid pandemic. His article The Hidden Power of Compliance (co-authored with Amelia Miazad) (2019 Minnesota Law Review) explores how extensive internal reporting within companies impacts the liability of board members. In Collaborative Gatekeepers (co-authored with Colby Mangels) (2016 Washington & Lee Law Review) he explores anti-money laundering law as a model of pro-active misconduct reporting. Gadinis’ work has also traced the spread of financial standards around the world, showing how private, regulator, or government supports leads to distinct results (Three Pathways to Global Standards, 2015 American Journal of International Law). Gadinis has argued that systemic risk reforms introduced after the 2008 financial crisis has resulted in increasing the role of political appointees over independent regulators in the oversight of the financial system (2012 California Law Review).

Before entering into academia, Gadinis practiced corporate law for four years in Europe. Gadinis completed his S.J.D. at Harvard in May 2010. He also holds an LL.M. degree from the University of Cambridge (UK), and a law degree from Aristotle University, Greece.

Ethan Klingsberg, as co-head of Freshfields’ US Corporate and M&A group, has a practice that focuses on public company boards of directors, corporate law, M&A and SEC matters. He leads a spectrum of strategic projects for clients in the Bay Area, many of whom have been working continuously with Ethan for over two decades. Indeed, he co-founded the Berkeley Law Spring Forum on M&A and the Boardroom eleven years ago, and continues to curate this event, to ensure these clients receive the most up to date insights and value-additive information available. Ranked Band 1 for Corporate/M&A by both Chambers USA and Chambers Global, Ethan has received the Burton Award for Legal Achievement for writing on fiduciary duties, was named a “top 10 innovative lawyer” for North America by the Financial Times, has been elected by peers at other firms to be a Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel, and named a “BTI Client Service All-Star” based on the survey of general counsels of the Fortune 1000, a Law360 M&A “MVP,” a “Legend” by Lawdragon, and “Dealmaker of the Year” by the American Lawyer. A regular guest on BloombergTV and CNBC to discuss M&A, governance, shareholder activism, the SEC, and board processes, his essays on corporate law topics have appeared in The Financial Times, Reuters Breaking Views, MarketWatch, The New York Law Journal, and the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance. He is grateful to the amazing teams at Berkeley and Freshfields that make this event a stand-out.

Meredith Kotler is co-head of the securities and shareholder litigation practice at Freshfields, where she specializes in high-stakes litigation, including securities, M&A, and shareholder disputes. Meredith regularly represents multi-national companies, financial institutions, and their boards and management in significant securities class actions, having secured important dismissals in both federal and state courts. As major M&A transactions and board-level controversies continue to receive scrutiny, Meredith has defended companies, their management and boards, and their financial advisors in litigation relating to dozens of transactions with a cumulative value of over $175 billion in the last seven years alone. She has played a leading role in many matters raising novel corporate governance issues, including the corporate control battle between National Amusements, Inc. and CBS Corporation, for which she was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer.

From 1998 to 2004, Meredith served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, including as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney. Her writings on the latest developments in securities litigation have been published in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and other outlets. She has also been appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Pro Bono Counsel list, to serve as counsel for pro se parties where the court appoints counsel in civil appeals.

Meredith has been recognized for Securities Litigation by Chambers (Band 1), Legal500 (Hall of Fame and Leading Lawyer), Benchmark Litigation (National Practice Area Star, Top 250 Women in Litigation), and Lawdragon (Leading Litigator).

Irene Liu is the founder of Hypergrowth GC and serves as an Executive in Residence at the UC Berkeley School of Law. With deep expertise in artificial intelligence, Irene is also an AI Advisor for the California Senate, Berkeley Law’s AI Institute, and Women Defining AI.

After successfully building and scaling international, multi-billion dollar technology companies, she now channels her expertise into helping other companies grow as an advisor, thought leader, and executive coach.

Irene worked as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice in the Antitrust Division and at the Federal Trade Commission in the Bureau of Consumer Protection. She later became the Chief Financial and Legal Officer at Hopin, a technology community engagement platform, where she oversaw legal, finance, policy, and trust & safety teams. Additionally, she served as General Counsel at Checkr, a modern background check provider, where she led legal, compliance, policy, finance, and customer education teams.

Irene is a frequent contributor to the Thomson Reuters Institute and hosts the “Coffee Break with Irene” series on Berkeley Boost and the “Hypergrowth GC” video series on Luminate+.

Angeli Patel is the Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, where she focuses on advancing corporate strategy, governance, and innovation in a rapidly evolving global landscape. She is deeply engaged in UC Berkeley’s innovation ecosystem, serving on the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Council and the Advisory Board of the Open Innovation Squad at Berkeley Haas School of Business.

As a practicing attorney, Angeli advises on AI and sustainability governance and corporate strategy. She began her legal career at Jones Day in the M&A practice and later joined the Sustainability & ESG Advisory Practice at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, advising clients on governance strategies to address climate and social risks.

Prior to her legal career, Angeli advised global governments and NGOs, including White House Office of Management and Budget under the Obama Administration focusing on government digitization and management reform; a policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, addressing consumer privacy. She also advised the UN Global Compact Network Australia on anti-corruption and business & human rights; as well as at the Government of Chile, Ministry of Finance on the country’s first government modernization initiatives.
As startup advisor and entrepreneur herself, Angeli is passionate about scaling businesses that align growth with social & political ecosystems. She launched an e-commerce business for women of color in 2021 and advises the Leadership & Development startup, Mandala.

Angeli holds a JD from Berkeley Law.