How women can be rainmakers and control their destiny

As the chief marketing officer at two of the world’s most successful law firms, and as a national marketing professional at a global management consultancy, Deborah Farone has mastered the skills of professional services marketing, business development and communications. With expertise in creating strategic firm-wide marketing programs in the U.S. and abroad, Deborah brings a diverse range of skills to each unique situation her clients face. She is also the author of the book "Best Practices in Law Firm Business Development and Marketing" (PLI 2019) and is a regular columnist for Forbes. Deborah was the first person to be hired to create and operate a marketing program for Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, acknowledged as one of the country’s most admired law firms and is one of the CMOs recognized for helping to found the business development and communications profession at law firms. Her clients have included some of the country’s leading law firms, jury consultants and professional advisors. In addition to her highly regarded work for law firms in the strategic marketing and communications counseling spheres, she has established and led marketing and business development efforts in management consulting, advertising and public relations firms. Deborah was nominated by her peers as the first recipient of the Legal Marketing Association’s Legacy Award in recognition of her contribution to the profession. She has lectured in the U.S. and in Europe, taught numerous marketing classes and has served on the faculty of New York University.

Shawn leads Orrick's London Corporate practice, its Global Emerging Markets practice and co-leads the Global Fintech team and the Global Technology Companies Practice Group. Shawn completed his studies at McMaster University (Canada), University of Nottingham, Nottingham Law School and Oxford University, and has lived and worked in Canada, the United States, the UK and Romania. Shawn and his team have overseen several hundred venture financings, private equity buyouts and M&A transactions over the course of the last decade. Leading venture capital and growth funds, private equity, and high-growth tech companies rely upon his unsurpassed industry knowledge as much as his relentless commitment to their business. In addition to sheer volume of deals, Shawn's incomparable market insight stems from his leadership roles at Orrick, the only global firm focused on technology, and his experience working throughout the UK & Europe, North America and Asia. These complement his practice serving public and private companies in UK multi-jurisdictional and complex corporate transactions, including countless acquisitions and disposals, cross-border mergers, bankruptcy infused asset sales, recapitalisations and reorganisations. He is also a recognised leader in late stage venture transactions and in early stage private equity transactions in Europe and the emerging markets. Shawn also advises early stage businesses across a number of sectors – including insurtech, Fintech, Crypto, SaaS, EdTech, HRTech, Marketplace and EnergyTech. He assists them from incorporation through to M&A exit, initial public offerings and other growth opportunities. His participation in the private equity and venture capital sector spans his entire career - with time spent in private practice, in-house and advising investors as well as investor-backed businesses-and affords him a deep knowledge and understanding of the industry and client needs and expectations.

Adriana specializes in Business Law and Telecommunications, Media & Technology. As a Business Law attorney, she provides legal advice to local and transnational enterprises on day-to-day issues and is highly active in mergers & acquisitions. Adriana’s expertise includes the review and implementation of contracts, debt restructuring, the designing and implementation of corporate, tax, and labor structures, and the organization of family businesses.

Practice areas: Capital Markets (ECM), Corporate/M&A, and ESG. Sectors: Energy & Infrastructure|Advisory|Life Sciences|IP & Tech|Transportation. Lise Lotte Hjerrild advises a number of international and Danish clients. Both C-suite and boards. Since 1997, Lise Lotte has led a number (+150) of private and public M&A transactions, including cross-border purchases and sales of companies, mergers and demergers of listed companies, listings and delistings, take-over bids, structured auction processes and investments in Danish and international companies. Lise Lotte has a unique experience in privatisations, especially of airports, energy & other utility companies, and in worldwide group restructurings. Lise Lotte is furthermore an experienced chairperson and has over the years headed numerous general meetings, boards & management meetings. Selected positions of trust: IBA Management Board, Immediate Past Chair of Women Lawyers' Committee.

With over 17 years’ experience advising on commercially and politically sensitive disputes, Joana is skilled at developing investigative strategies and gathering evidence in support of complex litigation, arbitration, and high-value asset recovery. Joana is ranked Band 1 in Chambers’ 2024 guide for Litigation Support, and Band 1 for Asset Tracing & Recovery (Global Investigations). Joana works closely with Claimants, their legal counsel, PR, third-party funders and other disputes specialists. Her work focuses on the support of legal processes including discovery/disclosure and other interim relief; fraud and corruption investigations; sanctions-related actions; and other special situations. Given the multi-disciplinary nature of these disputes, Joana’s work is often channeled into PR and government relations campaigns. She has given evidence and provided witness statements in support of her and the team’s findings. Combining creativity and precision in her approach to high value asset recovery, Joana advises clients on potential enforcement targets and pressure points to develop efficient recoverability strategies. Highly experienced in the enforcement of awards against sovereign States and state-owned companies, Joana has helped clients with evidence and solutions addressing complex commercial transactions involving sovereigns, veil piercing, alter-ego arguments and evidence of the commercial purpose of assets. Recognised in Chambers as “outstanding”, “thorough and meticulous” and “adept at getting quick results” clients’ praise Joana’s “ability to analyse complex matters and excellence in pursuing alternative investigative strategies” adding that she is “very responsive, incisive and brings to group conversations a view that challenges things”. “The quality of her work is next level”. Joana is frequently invited to speak on asset recovery, fraud and corruption investigations at leading industry conferences. Prior to co-founding Raedas in 2016, Joana was a partner and co-chair of the dispute consulting group at GPW in London. She was previously an investigator for Diligence in Brussels and London. She began her career working in international development cooperation at the OECD and the United Nations.

Ellen Holloman is a partner in Cadwalader’s Global Litigation Group. She focuses her practice on representing financial institutions, corporations and individuals in civil litigation and at trial, and in related regulatory enforcement proceedings and corporate internal investigations. She has extensive experience in securities litigation, including derivative and class action litigation, in contract and post-acquisition disputes, and in employment-related claims, including for enforcement of non-compete, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, and in #MeToo and other C-suite level crisis situations. Ellen regularly advises companies, boards, special committees and investors in connection with corporate governance matters, including takeover defense and contests for corporate control. She also frequently handles litigation arising from bankruptcy and financial restructuring matters, and has represented secured and unsecured creditors and debtors in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases and out-of-court restructurings across a wide range of industries, including financial services, energy, shipping, licensing and apparel. Ellen’s practice routinely involves matters with complex cross-border intersections, including obtaining large scale overseas discovery under the Hague Convention and other agreements and conducting investigations in response to inquiries under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She also has advised clients on Constitutional law matters, particularly First and Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. In addition to her civil litigation and trial practice, Ellen has significant experience with white-collar criminal defense matters, and has represented clients responding to regulatory inquires, requests and enforcement proceedings initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Reserve, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, National Association of Securities Dealers, FINRA, Internal Revenue Service, the Office of the New York State Attorney General, New York Stock Exchange, European Commission, and the UK Serious Frauds Office, among others.