Lori Marks-Esterman

Lori Marks-Esterman is among the nation’s leading shareholder litigators and corporate governance experts. She is the head of Olshan’s Shareholder Activism Litigation Practice, represents investors and other stakeholders in capital markets matters and other complex commercial disputes. She is a seasoned trial attorney proficient in handling capital markets litigation and corporate governance disputes.

Hedge funds, private equity companies, shareholder activists and other public and private entities entrust their most challenging litigation matters to Lori. She litigates and has secured critical wins in multibillion-dollar litigation matters in influential jurisdictions in securities-related litigation, M&A disputes and cases involving corporate governance, shareholder activism, breach of fiduciary duty, D&O liability and breach of complex, commercial agreements.

Lori also advises investors, stockholders and directors on the full range of governance issues, including fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, board and committee structure, shareholder and director rights and duties, proxy contests and compliance with governance best practices.

Lori’s sharp litigation skills, coupled with her corporate governance expertise, allow her to assess risk, define strategy and devise business solutions that deliver results. Investors in private and public companies routinely rely on Lori in high-profile contentious activist matters. She has served as lead trial counsel in several highly sophisticated matters tried in the Delaware Court of Chancery and New York courts.

Lori also has significant experience in cross-border matters, utilizing Section 1782 cases to obtain critical evidence in the U.S. for use in foreign litigation. Working closely with foreign co-counsel, Lori develops case and discovery strategies for foreign disputes. Among these, she represented IsZo Capital LP in the Southern District of New York in a $170 million private placement dispute that culminated in what various media called “an epic” victory. She also recently secured a multibillion-dollar precedent-setting win on a Section 1782 application that sought discovery from multiple corporate respondents in a $2.7 billion merger. Lori has been instrumental in obtaining precedent-setting wins, and her consistent success in these matters has helped increase the potency of Section 1782 as a tool in litigation involving international business transactions.

A fierce, persistent and zealous advocate, Lori evaluates the pros and cons of the client’s position and then leverages the pressure points through the various stages of litigation to routinely deliver successful results. With a clear understanding of the problems and her clients’ goals in mind, she plots a strategic course focused on the finish line. Chambers commented that “Lori is an excellent litigator. She assesses a situation and develops a realistic and appropriate legal strategy.”

Lori is a frequent speaker at conferences and panels focused on shareholder activism and corporate governance matters and has guest lectured at classes at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and has been a speaker at the Annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute. Lori is also a fellow of the prestigious Litigation Counsel of America, an invitation-only trial lawyers’ honorary society recognizing excellence among American litigation and trial counsel, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF), a prestigious honor awarded only to a select few by invitation. She is a member of Olshan’s Executive Committee, Women’s Committee and Diversity & Inclusion Committee.