CEO Forum 2007: "Is Shareholder Democracy Good for Shareholders?"

Langham Hotel (previously Le Meridien), Post Office Square, Boston.

Monday, December 10, 2007

This Year's Co-Chairs:

About The Topic:

Shareholder activism, which has been a force confronting public corporations from at least the mid-1980s, has increased in intensity since the collapses of Enron and WorldCom and press coverage of CEO compensation have sharply focused public and governmental attention on questions of corporate governance.  Those seeking more say in corporate affairs include social activists,public and union pension funds, mutual funds, and activist hedge funds.  Whether recent calls for more “shareholder democracy” would benefit or harm the American economy is the question, among related issues, to be explored by our expert panel.  Join us for what promises to be an enlightening discussion aimed at furthering informed public debate on this important issue. 

Moderator:

Louis A. Goodman, Esquire. Louis Goodman heads the Boston office of Skadden Arps and works on a wide range of corporate matters, from acquisitions, financings and restructurings to white collar criminal defense. He has represented clients in some of their most significant transactions, many that have industry-wide and sometimes worldwide significance. His practice includes advising a wide range of clients on matters of corporate governance. Mr. Goodman is a member of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and of the Board of Directors of the New England Legal Foundation.

More on the Panelists:

Scott Harshbarger. In the course of a distinguished public career, Scott Harshbarger has served two terms as District Attorney of Middlesex County and two terms as Massachusetts Attorney General. Among his many significant achievements during his tenure as Attorney General, Mr. Harshbarger led major initiatives against white collar crime, public corruption, insurance and Medicaid fraud, environmental abuses and high-tech crime and received national praise for his Safe Neighborhoods Initiative to reduce urban crime and violence.  In 1998 he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, losing to the Republican incumbent by a narrow margin. From August, 1999 to November, 2002, he was President and CEO of Common Cause in Washington, D.C., where he spearheaded the successful effort to enact federal campaign finance reform.  Mr. Harshbarger returned to private practice in 2003 and is Senior Counsel in the Boston office of Proskauer Rose LLP in Boston, Massachusetts, where his practice focuses on strategic counsel and litigation, corporate investigations and defense, corporate and nonprofit governance and government regulation. The recipient of many awards and honors, Mr. Harshbarger serves on a number of charitable boards.  He has published numerous law and related articles on topics in the field of corporate and nonprofit governance, and regulatory strategies, and regularly appears as a commentator in the national and local media.

Professor Lynn A. Stout, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law. Professor Lynn A. Stout is the Paul Hastings Professor of Corporate and Securities Law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.  She is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of corporate governance, securities regulation, law and economics, and the study of moral behavior.  Professor Stout has published numerous articles and books on these topics and lectures widely.  She is the Principal Investigator for the UCLA-Sloan Foundation Research Program on Business Organizations, and also serves as Independent Trustee and Chair of the Governance Committee for the Eaton Vance family of mutual funds and as an Adjunct member of the RAND Corporation.  She has served on the Board of Directors of the American Law and Economics Association, is a past Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Law and Economics, and a past Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Business Associations.  Professor Stout has also taught at Harvard Law School, NYU Law School, Georgetown University Law School, and the George Washington University National Law Center, and served as a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.   

John A. Hill. Mr. Hill is the Vice Chairman of First Reserve Corporation and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Putman Mutual Funds.  From 1976 to 1981, Mr. Hill served as President and Chief Executive Officer of F. Eberstadt & Co., Inc., an investment banking, research and institutional brokerage firm.  Subsequently, Mr. Hill was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Marsh & McLennan Asset Management.  Prior to 1976, Mr. Hill spent seven years in the U.S. Government as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Energy Administration and Deputy Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Ford Administration.  Together with William E. Macaulay, Mr. Hill acquired First Reserve in 1983.  Among his many outside activities, Mr. Hill is a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at the Yale School of Management.

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5:30 - 7:30pm - CEO Forum

7:30 - 9:30pm - Annual Reception and Buffet

Cost: $150 per person* (includes admittance to CEO Forum and Annual Reception and Buffet)

Reservations for eight or more persons will receive sponsorship designation.

Please RSVP by return email or calling NELF at (617) 695-3660.

*Good faith estimate of ticket value, $100.