About the Speakers
Howard Brownstein
President & Founder of The Brownstein Corporation
Howard Brownstein is President and Founder of The Brownstein Corporation, a nationally-known turnaround and crisis management firm. Mr. Brownstein regularly serves as an independent board member, and he currently chairs the nominating & governance and strategic planning & risk assessment committees of P&F Industries (NasdaqGM: PFIN), and he previously chaired the audit committee of LMG2. He previously was the sole board member of Betsey Johnson LLC, chaired the board audit committee of Special Metals Corp., and served on the board of Magnatrax Corporation. He also was chairman of the National Philanthropic Trust, and served on the board of a regional bank, a retail department store, and was chairman of a United Way agency. He has published over seventy articles, books and chapters, on turnaround management and corporate governance.
Frances Goins
Partner at Ulmer & Berne LLP & Chair of the Directors & Officers Liability Committee of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section
Fran is skilled in resolving complex business disputes for public and private companies, including matters involving securities, corporate governance, cybersecurity, and consumer and contract law. Fran has managed numerous takeover and proxy contests involving public companies, and is an accomplished appellate lawyer. Her practice also includes counseling businesses on compliance and training for data privacy and cybersecurity, ethics, anti-bribery, and governance best practices. She regularly defends clients in SEC and other regulatory enforcement actions, and has conducted many internal corporate and special litigation investigations.
Fran was tapped by the Department of Homeland Security to speak on “Cybersecurity in the C-Suite and Boardroom” in its C-Cubed webinar series. In independent surveys of in-house counsel and peer attorneys, Fran is ranked as one of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business “Leaders in Their Field” in Ohio for General Commercial Litigation, and a “State Litigation Star” in Ohio by Benchmark Litigation. She has appeared in Benchmark’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the U.S. since 2014. Fran is nationally recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® in Corporate Compliance Law, Corporate Governance Law, Securities Litigation, and Banking & Finance Litigation, and was named Best Lawyers’ 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Securities Litigation and 2018 “Lawyer of the Year” for Banking and Finance Litigation (Cleveland).
Fran is active in the ABA, chairing the Business Law Section Director & Officer Liability Committee. She co-chaired the Ohio Eighth District Judicial Conference in 2015, and currently chairs the Art Song Festival. Fran is also a member of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center Sing Out! Chorale.
Leslie Kurshan
Leader, Innovative Client Solutions for the Specialty Practice at Marsh
Leslie Kurshan is the Leader, Innovative Client Solutions for the Specialty Practice at Marsh in the United Kingdom. Prior to taking on her current role, Leslie was Head of Product Development for Marsh’s UK Financial and Professional Practice. In recent years, she has been responsible for the development of a number of proprietary insurance products including the Marsh AFIC Aircraft Finance Non-Payment policy, enhanced versions of Marsh Alpha directors and officers liability policy and the Marsh Echo product suite (awarded the European Risk Management Award for Broker Innovation of the Year 2016). Earlier in her career, she lead Marsh’s UK Management Liability Client Advisory Team and advised many FTSE 100 and large European companies on the placement of their management liability insurance programs.
Leslie is a California attorney with experience representing London Market insurers in insurance coverage disputes in the United States. She is also a solicitor qualified in England and Wales. Leslie is a regular speaker at insurance and legal conferences and has authored and co-authored a number of articles on emerging insurance coverage and risk issues.
