Lizanne Thomas

Chair of Corporate Governance Practice , Jones Day

While her roots are as an M&A lawyer, Lizanne Thomas practices, teaches, and lives corporate governance as the head of the Firm's corporate governance team. She participates in about 100 board meetings per year as counsel to a number of public companies. She represents special committees in control and conflict transactions, as well as in internal investigations. Lizanne is experienced in shareholder activism, public and private mergers and acquisitions, takeover preparedness, and executive compensation. She lectures on governance to leading business organizations, companies, and universities. Lizanne also serves as the Partner-in-Charge of the Firm's Southern U.S. Region.
 
Lizanne serves or has served on the Boards of Directors of three publicly traded companies: Atlantic Capital Bancshares, Inc., Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. At Krispy Kreme she co-chaired a special committee charged with investigating a variety of allegations against the company. While she was chair of its governance committee, KKD twice won national corporate governance awards for its shareholder engagement and disclosure, and in 2016 she was named one of the top 100 directors by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
 
Lizanne is a Trustee of the Georgia Research Alliance, serving as Chair of the Audit Committee. She is a Trustee of Washington & Lee University and The Woodruff Arts Center. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta and is a former Trustee of Furman University, and a former director of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.