Adrienne Ferraro Mueller has amassed a broad range of experience defending companies and their officers and directors in securities and shareholder litigation in federal and state courts throughout the country, with notable success in the Delaware Court of Chancery. She regularly advises boards, committees, and senior management in connection with matters of corporate governance and actions involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Secretary of Labor, and she has conducted wide ranging, transformational internal investigations.
Adrienne frequently collaborates in the M&A space, aggressively defending against merger-related challenges threatening major transactions and practically addressing post-closing disputes. She also has experience representing clients in litigation brought on behalf of employee benefits plans, including deferred compensation plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and incentive plans.
Adrienne is the administrative partner for the Cleveland Office, a role she assumed in 2021 after nearly five years as the office's hiring partner. She is a member of the board of directors of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, and she previously served on the Family Services Committee of The Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland, as well as the board of directors of Blessing House, a children's care center, where she also chaired the board's governance committee.
Experience
Speaking Engagements
- January 27, 2021
Accounting for Lawyers Lecture - November 16, 2020
Developments in Securities Litigation and Director & Officer Liability - December 4, 2018
Developments in Securities and Shareholder Litigation - December 1, 2016
Importance of Full and Fair Proxy Disclosures - November 29, 2016
Directors and Officers in the Crosshairs: Trends in Securities and Shareholder Litigation - December 2014
18th Annual RR Donnelley SEC Hot Topics Institute: SEC Enforcement - December 2013
Defending the C-Level Suite - October 2008
Where Default Lies: Litigation Arising from the Subprime/Real Estate Market Downturn - December 2006
Defending Parallel Civil and Criminal Proceedings, Cleveland Bar Association White-Collar Crime Institute
- The Ohio State University (J.D. with honors 2003; Order of the Coif; Managing Editor, The Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution; Moot Court Governing Board; National Moot Court Team); The College of Wooster (B.A. cum laude 2000; Phi Beta Kappa; Honors in Political Science)
- Ohio, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Sixth Circuits
The Best Lawyers in America — securities and corporate governance law litigation (2019-2021), including "Lawyer of the Year" for litigation-securities (2021)
Ohio Super Lawyers (2018-2021)