Francesca L. Odell is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. She leads Cleary’s corporate advisory practice and assists both U.S. and international clients on a complex range of corporate governance and reporting matters, as well as corporate transactions, particularly in capital markets. She regularly advises boards of directors and management on a variety of topics, including disclosure and compliance matters; stock exchange listing requirements; board composition and director independence; shareholder engagement and activism; shareholder proposals and proxy season trends; management and director succession planning; and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. She also has deep experience with capital markets, M&A and other financial transactions in the U.S. and Latin America, particularly in Brazil.
Francesca is an active member of leading organizations and educational institutions focused on corporate governance, including the American College of Governance Counsel and the NYU Law Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance.
Her work has been recognized by a number of leading legal publications and directories, including the American Lawyer, Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Chambers Latin America, Chambers Brazil, the Legal 500 US, and the Legal 500 Latin America, among others.
Francesca received a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin. She joined Cleary in 1996 and became a partner in 2005.