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Corporate Governance & ESG

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SEDA Experts

Corporate Governance

& ESG.

Industry senior executives who served as board members or advisors to numerous companies across industrial manufacturing, health care, financial services, cybersecurity, and marketing.

PRACTICE AREA  · EXPERT WITNESS & CONSULTING

Related Experts

About this practice

PRACTICE OVERVIEW

Our team is comprised of industry senior executives who served as board members or advisors to numerous companies in a wide variety of industry segments, including industrial manufacturing, health care, financial services, cybersecurity, and marketing.

Our practitioners bring direct boardroom experience and deep knowledge of corporate governance standards, director fiduciary duties, board committee responsibilities, and the evolving ESG landscape across multiple jurisdictions.

We provide expert opinions and testimony on matters involving alleged governance failures, director and officer liability, executive compensation disputes, shareholder activism, and ESG-related disclosures and obligations.

SEDA acts as both expert witness and strategic consultant on corporate governance and ESG matters. In litigation, our practitioners testify on director fiduciary duties, board decision-making standards, executive compensation disputes, and ESG disclosure obligations under evolving SEC guidance. In a consulting capacity, we advise boards, audit committees, and institutional investors on governance framework design, ESG integration, and the management of whistleblower and ethics matters — bringing practitioner authority that academic advisers cannot replicate.

WHY SEDA

Former board members and senior advisors across Fortune 500 companies — direct experience with governance standards, board oversight obligations, and director duties.

Deep expertise in ESG frameworks, sustainability reporting, board composition, executive compensation, and shareholder rights — across multiple industry sectors.

Experience with proxy contests, activist shareholder campaigns, takeover defenses, and governance best practices in contested corporate situations.

SUB-PRACTICE  AREAS

Areas of expertise

01

Board Duties & Director Liability

Related: Investigation & Regulatory Enforcement

02

Executive Compensation

Related: Damages, Forensics & Fraud · M&A

Director fiduciary duties, duty of care and loyalty, business judgment rule, board oversight obligations, and D&O liability in complex governance disputes.

Expert opinions on ESG disclosure obligations, sustainability reporting standards, climate-related financial disclosures, and governance of ESG commitments.

03

ESG Frameworks & Disclosures

Related: Investigation & Regulatory · Capital Markets

Analysis of executive compensation structures, incentive alignment, say-on-pay disputes, golden parachutes, and compensation committee decision-making processes.

04

Shareholder Activism & Proxy

Related: M&A, Private Equity & Corporate Finance

Analysis of proxy contests, activist shareholder campaigns, takeover defenses, poison pills, and board responses to shareholder activism.

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Craig W. Broderick

Craig W. Broderick

Bio

Senior Advisor

Craig Broderick is the former Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of Goldman Sachs where he served on the Management Committee and was Chair or Co-Chair of the Firmwide Risk Committee. In a 32 year career Craig oversaw control of the firm’s credit, market, liquidity, operational, model, counterparty and insurance risks.

Former

Goldman Sachs - Chief Risk Officer, Chief Credit Officer

Management Committee and Chair or Co-Chair of the Firmwide Risk Committee

Mitchell I. Gordon

Mitchell I. Gordon

Bio

Managing Director

Mitchell Gordon is an expert witness in corporate governance, capital markets and SPAC-related litigation. He has served as President and Chief Financial Officer and has sat on the boards of multiple SPAC vehicles.

Former

Cambridge Capital Acquisition Corp./SPAC - President and CFO
Interpool (NYSE: IPX) - EVP and CFO

Edward Baker

Edward Baker

Bio

Managing Director

Edward Baker has over 40 years of experience in investment management, specializing in ESG, quantitative investing, and corporate governance. He currently advises Tipping Frontier on assessing the financial impact of climate and extreme risks for companies and governments.

Former

The Cambridge Strategy - Executive Chairman

Alliance Capital - CEO Alliance Capital UK, Director Emerging Markets Research, CIO Global Emerging Markets Equities

Louise Pitt Brindle

Louise Pitt Brindle

Bio

Senior Advisor

Louise Pitt Brindle is a credit expert with 27 years of experience, specializing in global financial institutions. She most recently served as Principal and Head of Research at RPIA and previously held senior roles at Goldman Sachs, with expertise spanning fixed income, corporate credit, ESG, and private debt.

Former

RPIA - Principal Head of PM Research

Goldman Sachs - Vice President

Stephen F. O'Byrne

Stephen F. O'Byrne

Bio

Managing Director

Stephen F. O’Byrne has 40+ years of experience in executive compensation and performance measurement. He specializes in incentive design, economic profit frameworks, and statistical models to align employee performance with shareholder value.

Former

Shareholder Value Advisors - President (Current)

Stern Stewart & Co. - Senior Vice President

Andrew W. Feinberg

Andrew W. Feinberg

Bio

Managing Director

Andrew W. Feinberg has over 30 years of professional experience in corporate governance, leadership and executive operations. He has previously served successfully as CEO, as President and COO, and as Chief Legal Officer for public and private global companies, and has served as Chairman or Member, or advisor to, over a dozen boards of directors.

Former 

Brightcove Inc (“BCOV”) - CEO, President and COO

Lycos Inc (“LCOS”) - Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, VP Corp Dev


Ross Youngman

Ross Youngman

Bio

Senior Advisor

Mr. Youngman is an expert in asset management, investment management governance, and senior executive leadership within global financial services organizations. He has over 30 years of experience managing Australian and global equities and leading regulated investment businesses across Australia, the United States, and international markets.

Former

Ausbil Investment Management - Chief Executive Officer and Board Director

Five Oceans Asset Management - Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Deutsche Bank - Chief Executive Officer


Adam Zurofsky

Adam Zurofsky

Bio

Managing Director

Adam Zurofsky is a recognized leader in clean energy, climate policy, and sustainable finance, with experience across government, academia, nonprofit leadership, and private practice. He has played a key role in advancing major U.S. and state-level decarbonization initiatives.

Former

State of New York- Director, Northeast Clean Hydrogen Hub; Director of State Policy and Agency Management; Deputy Secretary of Energy and Finance, New York State Executive Chamber

James N. Lane

James N. Lane

Bio

Managing Director

Jim Lane has over 35 years of Wall Street experience as a private equity and investment professional. In his career Jim created and led two highly successful private equity firms. One of these groups, Goldman Sachs’ PIA, is now one of the largest alternative investment firms in the world and the second, SG Capital Partners, generated top quartile investment returns.

Former

Société Générale - Chairman & CEO, SG Capital Partners

Goldman Sachs - General Partner, Co-Head, Principal Investment Area (PIA)

Julian Gooding

Julian Gooding

Bio

Managing Director

Julian Gooding is a senior regulatory lawyer and compliance professional with extensive experience advising global financial institutions across Asia, Switzerland, and London. He has held senior legal and compliance leadership roles and led complex regulatory and investigation matters.

Former

Temple Bright - Regulatory Partner

Credit Suisse - Chief Compliance Officer, Regulatory Compliance, GC COO and GC Corporate Legal Group

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hong Kong - Senior Associate, Financial Services


Reza Dibadj

Reza Dibadj

Bio

Managing Director

Professor Reza Dibadj is a recognized expert in corporate and securities law, antitrust, financial regulation, and complex litigation, with a professional career spanning three decades.

Former

University of San Francisco School of Law -  Professor, Marshall P. Madison Chair, Dean’s Circle Scholar, Associate Professor

University of California, Berkeley School of Law - Lecturer-in-Residence, full-time faculty; Visiting Professor

Robert Ohrenstein

Robert Ohrenstein

Bio

Senior Advisor

Robert Ohrenstein is a market-leading transaction adviser to private equity and similar investors. His career includes leadership roles at KPMG, where he served as Global Head of Private Equity and Vice Chair, as well as advisory positions in various commercial and charitable organizations.

Former

KPMG – Vice Chair, Global Head of Private Equity

Elizabeth Mays, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Mays, Ph.D.

Bio

Managing Director

Elizabeth Mays Ph.D., is a quantitative modeling and analytics expert with more than 30 years of experience in banking, specializing in model risk management, predictive modeling, and the governance of statistical and machine learning systems.

Former

PNC Financial Services - EVP and Chief Model Risk Officer

JPM Chase - SVP and Head of Consumer Risk Modeling


Daniel P. Brindle

Daniel P. Brindle

Bio

Managing Director

Daniel Brindle is a seasoned global executive with 30+ years of leadership across life sciences, public affairs, and international law. An expert in China and Asia-Pacific, he has held senior roles at Novartis, Pfizer, and GSK, leading commercial strategy, policy engagement, and cross-sector collaboration to expand healthcare access and drive innovation.

Former

Novartis Group - President

Pfizer - Vice President, International Public Affairs & Policy

GSK - Vice President, Government Affairs

Howard Mills

Howard Mills

Bio

Senior Advisor

Mr. Mills is a former Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department and a retired Deloitte Managing Director. He has also served as Senior Advisor to McKinsey’s Insurance Practice and currently sits on the boards of Genworth Financial and The Doctors Company Group.

Former

Deloitte - Managing Director, Global Insurance Regulatory Leader

New York Insurance - Department Superintendent

Nina Rodriguez

Nina Rodriguez

Bio

Managing Director

Nina Rodriguez is an expert in corporate governance and regulatory law, with experience in ethics, whistleblower matters, and board governance. She has advised on IPO-related litigation, insider trading, and disclosure requirements, and previously served as COO and Managing Director at Kalorama Partners.

Former

US District Court for the Southern District of Florida - Judicial Law Clerk

Kalorama Partners & Kalorama Legal Services PLLC - COO & Managing Director

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