Celebrating 35 Years

Thirty-five years ago, Jesse Brill published the first issue of
The Corporate Counsel. Please join us here — and on September 20 in Chicago — as we celebrate at the 35th Anniversary Gala! Our Gala Hosting Committee is Chaired by John Olson, Herb Wander and Stan Keller.

Jesse Brill has devoted most of his professional career to writing, publishing, advising, and innovating in the securities law and stock compensation arenas. He is the publisher of the internationally acclaimed newsletters, The Corporate Counsel and The Corporate Executive, along with many other books and resources on many aspects of securities law.

Many of the innovations in stock compensation either grew from or were first analyzed in one of Brill's publications. These include cashless and net exercise procedures, reload stock options, transferable stock options, and charitable gifts by companies in the form of stock options. He is responsible for coining the term “tally sheets” and making it a common practice at all public companies.

He is recognized as the country’s leading authority on Rule 144 and is responsible for many favorable interpretive positions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) affecting company stock. In fact, his name appears on many of the SEC's key interpretive letters. Seasoned practitioners will also recall that he was responsible for the SEC’s elimination (in 1979) of annual S-8 post-effective amendments and prospectus delivery, resulting in savings to issuers of over $100,000,000 per year.

In addition, Brill founded and is chair of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, the leading organization devoted to the needs of those who develop and administer equity compensation plans and their attorneys and advisors. Chances are that the very people who are responsible for designing, disclosing, and managing your company's equity compensation plans—and advising compensation committees—rely on the NASPP, CompensationStandards.com, Jesse Brill's newsletters, and his Annual Executive Compensation and Proxy Disclosure Conferences as their primary resources.

A graduate of Amherst College and Yale Law School, Brill started out as a staff attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission and maintains a close relationship with his former SEC colleagues. He also serves as counsel for a major brokerage firm. He founded the Entrepreneurs Foundation of New England, a nonprofit organization that receives stock options from companies and uses the proceeds to fund community projects. In his spare time, he skis and plays softball (with athletes 30 years his junior). He lives in the San Francisco area with his wife, Laren and is father to four and grandfather to five.