Elizabeth A. Ising

Elizabeth Ising is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of the firm’s Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance practice. She also is a member of the firm’s Hostile M&A and Shareholder Activism team and Financial Institutions practice group. She advises clients, including public companies and their boards of directors, on corporate governance, securities law and, ESG and sustainability matters and executive compensation best practices and disclosures. Representative matters include advising on Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements, proxy disclosures, SASB and TCFD disclosures, director independence matters, proxy advisory services, board and committee charters and governance guidelines and disclosure controls and procedures. Ms. Ising also regularly counsels public companies on shareholder activism issues, including on shareholder proposals and preparing for and responding to hedge fund and corporate governance activism. She also advises non-profit organizations on corporate governance issues.

Ms. Ising was recognized as a member of Lawdragon's Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law guide for the second year in a row due to her work in ESG compliance and disputes (2023, 2024). For the third year, Ms. Ising was also named in Lawdragon's 500 Leading Dealmakers in America guide, which recognizes lawyers who "set the pace for lawyering in the financial world," in recognition of her work in Corporate Governance and Securities Regulation (2021,2022,2024). BTI Consulting named Ms. Ising an MVP to its 2018 and 2019 BTI Client Service All-Stars lists, recognizing the “lawyers who truly stand out as delivering the absolute best client service time and time again” as determined by a poll of corporate counsel. Chambers USA has recognized Ms. Ising as a top Securities: Regulation attorney in each of the last six years. She also has been named to The Best Lawyers in America list annually since 2018. Ms. Ising was named to the 2016, 2017, and 2023 editions of Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance, a guide based on independent client and peer surveys. In 2017, Ms. Ising was elected as a fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Northwestern University’s Securities Regulation Institute, is a member of the Advisory Board of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware and previously was named a “Rising Star of Corporate Governance” by Yale School of Management’s Center for Corporate Governance and Performance.

Ms. Ising is a frequent author and speaker on securities law and corporate governance issues. Recent publications include the publication “ESG Legal Update: What Corporate Governance and ESG Professionals Need to Know” (published in conjunction with the Society for Corporate Governance in June 2020), “Legal Risks and ESG Disclosures: What Corporate Secretaries Should Know” (published in conjunction with the Society for Corporate Governance in June 2018), an article in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Business Law Today titled “Recent Developments Related to the SEC’s Shareholder Proposal Rule”, the article “Top 11 Legal and Regulatory Tips for Boards of Directors” published by Corporate Board Member and articles in Insights – The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor. Ms. Ising also co-authors a chapter in the treatise “A Practical Guide to SEC Proxy and Compensation Rules” and contributed to the most recent edition of the ABA’s “Handbook for the Conduct of Shareholders’ Meeting”. Recent presentations include to the Securities Regulation Institute, TheCorporateCounsel.net, the Practicing Law Institute, Bloomberg BNA, the Society for Corporate Governance Professionals and the ABA.

Ms. Ising served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Corporate Governance from 2020 to 2023 and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at McLean School of Maryland, which specializes in college-bound students with challenges like dyslexia and ADHD. She previously served as Vice Chair of the Proxy Statements and Business Combinations Subcommittee of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee of the ABA and Chair of the Corporate Finance Committee; Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar.

Ms. Ising graduated with high honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2000. She was a member of Order of the Coif and was inducted into the James E. and Carolyn B. Davis Society. Ms. Ising was also a published member of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation. Ms. Ising is admitted to practice in the State of North Carolina and in the District of Columbia. She is a former chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. Diversity Committee and co-chair of the LGBT Committee.

Capabilities

• Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance
• Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits
• Financial Institutions
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Securities Litigation
• Shareholder Activism

Credentials

Education:

• University of North Carolina - 2000 Juris Doctor
• James Madison University - 1992 Bachelor of Science

Admissions:

• District of Columbia Bar
• North Carolina Bar