Fishman, Gershanik Once Again Lead Tulane Law’s Corporate Governance Mini-Course

Attorneys Louis Fishman, counsel to the firm, and Maureen Gershanik, a partner in Fishman Haygood’s Business Section, once again are serving as co-instructors of the Corporate Governance mini-course at Tulane University Law School. The six-week course began March 6 and meets for two-hour sessions during the spring. Fishman has taught the course for the past decade, and this semester marks Gershanik’s second serving as an official co-instructor after having previously served as a guest speaker.

The course considers current events in corporate governance, but typically covers topics like shareholder activism, proxy access, and ethical dilemmas involving business clients. This semester, Gershanik led discussions on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), which included commentary on its origins, the problems ESG is expected to solve in the business world, and the challenges the movement faces.

The course’s objective is to demonstrate to students how corporate governance fits into corporation law, how corporations make decisions, the role of the corporation lawyer in corporate governance, and the factors that lead to good (and bad) corporate decision-making. Ultimately, the goal is that students come away conversant in a variety of corporate governance topics.

Fishman Haygood attorneys regularly lend their expertise to scholarship and teaching of continuing development in the law. Fishman is a founder and has served since 1988 on the planning committee of Tulane’s Corporate Law Institute. He has held several key posts, including chairperson of the Louisiana State Bar Association’s (LSBA) Section on Corporation and Business Law. This year, Fishman was voted into the 2024 Tulane Law Hall of Fame Class, which honors the law school’s most notable alumni who have elevated the legal profession and the global stature of Tulane Law.

Gershanik also is a past chairperson and council member of the LSBA Section on Corporate and Business Law and is an appointed member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Corporate Laws Committee, which continually updates and revised the Model Business Corporation Act. She served as a panelist on “ESG Considerations in Dealmaking” at the 34^th Annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute and on “Activism and ESG Considerations in Today’s World” at the 35^th annual event.

Click here to learn more about the firm’s Corporate Governance group.