Dionne Rousseau, a partner with the Jones Walker law firm, is the boardroom lawyer for three public companies and the lead outside corporate and securities counsel for four more. She’s been handling corporate finances, mergers and acquisitions, as well as transactions for public and private companies, for 20-plus years. The New Orleans-native has handled a $1 billion debt refinancing, a $750 million at-the-market common stock offering for a Fortune 500 company and a $500 million public company cash-for-stock merger. She’s a former adjunct faculty member at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, and before becoming a lawyer, Rousseau was an investment banker with PaineWebber (now UBS) in New York City. Read the full Q&A here. Here’s a sample:
What is your greatest professional accomplishment?
“The time I defeated a hostile takeover attempt of a public company by one of its competitors, by representing management and putting together a “white knight” counteroffer. It was technically complex, and very intense. We won – and saved a lot of jobs.”
