Biography
Melissa Sawyer is Global Head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group and is co-head of the Firm’s Corporate Governance Practice. She advises clients on corporate governance, activism and takeover defense matters. Her experience advising companies spans the full range of governance topics, including board structure; board evaluations; director tenure and diversity; directors’ fiduciary duties; disclosure; investor engagement; shareholder proposals; ESG; #MeToo situations; crisis management; responding to activists and short-sellers; succession planning; and insider trading and other compliance matters. In addition to corporate governance matters, Melissa regularly advises clients on public and private M&A transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Melissa’s experience spans multiple industries, including consumer and retail, TMT, technology, industrials and life sciences.
A three-time winner of The American Lawyer’s “Dealmaker of the Year” (in 2020, 2022 and 2024), Melissa has been repeatedly recognized as a leading M&A adviser. She is ranked by Chambers USA in Corporate/M&A and Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense, and was named a Client Service All-Star by BTI. She was also named to The Deal’s “Top Women in Dealmaking” and “Women in M&A: The Powerhouse 20” for shaping the industry with her novel approach to transactions and has been recognized as a Law360 MVP in Mergers & Acquisitions and Food & Beverage, one of Crain’s “Leading Women Lawyers in New York City,” “Dealmaker of the Week” by The American Lawyer and one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” for her work in corporate governance, M&A and activism defense. Additional accolades include receiving a Burton Award for Legal Achievement and being chosen as an Empire State Counsel Honoree by the New York State Bar Association.
Melissa has recently advised: American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, Apollo Education, AT&T, Baxter International, BBA Aviation, Benefitfocus, Boeing, Carlyle Secured Lending, CONMED, Cornerstone Building Brands, CPPIB, CSM Bakery, Diageo, Diversified Healthcare Trust, Dos Hombres, DS Smith, FGS Global, FXI, GameStop, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Integra LifeSciences, Kering, Neiman Marcus Group, Novartis, OTPP, Seagen, Sotheby’s, Subway, Tien Tzuo (CEO of the Board of Zuora), Tiffany & Co., UnitedHealth and Weber.
Melissa serves on the board of advisors for NYU School of Law’s Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance, is an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Corporate Governance Restatement project, is a member of the Editorial Board of Insights: The Corporate and Securities Law Advisor and serves on the board of directors for the French-American Foundation. She is currently a member of the American Law Institute, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Melissa has participated in numerous panels for the Practising Law Institute and regularly writes for The M&A Lawyer, The Deal Pipeline and LexisNexis.
