Keith Gottfried is a Washington, D.C. partner at Alston & Bird LLP who concentrates his practice advising public companies and their boards of directors and special committees thereof, with regard to proxy contests, activist

shareholder campaigns, contests for corporate control, mergers and

acquisitions, corporate governance, securities regulation, and NYSE and

Nasdaq compliance.

Mr. Gottfried leads the firm’s company-side shareholder activism defense

practice and has extensive experience advising public companies and their

boards of directors in connection with unsolicited takeover bids, proxy

contests, consent solicitations and other contests for corporate control.

Over the course a legal career that spans more than two decades, Mr.

Gottfried has been involved in numerous high-profile proxy contests and

hostile takeovers.

He has been frequently quoted by the national business media on articles

relating to shareholder activism and is also a frequent speaker on issues

relating to shareholder activism.

Mr. Gottfried has also held senior in-house legal positions in the public and

private sectors. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Department of

Housing and Urban Development following his nomination by President

George W. Bush and his unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Earlier, Mr. Gottfried served as general counsel of Borland Software

Corporation in California’s Silicon Valley.