Charles M. Elson

Consultant
Charles M. Elson

Overview

Charles M. Elson practices in Holland & Knight's Tampa office in the areas of corporate and securities law. Mr. Elson has vast experience in corporations, securities regulation and corporate governance. He is currently first occupant of the Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair of Corporate Governance and the director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.

Mr. Elson is a former professor at Stetson University College of Law, and has authored a number of articles on corporate governance. He also has been a visiting professor at the University of Illinois School of Law, Cornell Law School and the University of Maryland School of Law. In addition, Mr. Elson was a Salvatori Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., and is a member of the American Law Institute.

Mr. Elson has served as a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Commission on Director Compensation, Director Professionalism, CEO Succession, Audit Committees, Strategic Planning, Director Evaluation, Risk Governance, Effective Lead Director, Board Diversity, Talent Development and Strategy Development, and was a member of its Best Practices Council on Coping With Fraud and Other Illegal Activity. In addition, he is vice chairman of the American Bar Association (ABA) Business Law Section's Committee on Corporate Governance and was a member of the section's Committee on Corporate Laws. He is also a member of the Standing Advisory Group of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. 

Mr. Elson has served as an adviser, consultant and director for a number of companies, including Towers Perrin, Circon Corp., Sunbeam Corp., Nuevo Energy Co., Investor Responsibility Research Center, Alderwoods Group, AutoZone and Bob Evans Farms Inc. He also is a member of the board of directors of Encompass Health Corp., and has served as trustee of the Big Apple Circus, Talladega College, Tampa Museum of Art, Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Delaware Museum of Natural History, Delaware Art Museum and the Museum of American Finance. He is presently a trustee of the Hagley Museum and Library. 

In addition, Mr. Elson has been included in the list of the "100 most influential players in corporate governance" by Directorship, the "100 most influential people in finance" by Treasury & Risk Management, the list of top 10 governance "stars" by Global Proxy Watch, and Ethisphere's 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics in 2014.  

Mr. Elson was admitted to the Order of the Coif during law school. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Elbert P. Tuttle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson II of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Credentials

Education
  • University of Virginia School of Law, J.D.
  • Harvard College, A.B.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • New York
Memberships
  • American Bar Association
  • Ferguson-White American Inn of Court
  • Federalist Society
  • Association of the Bar of the City of New York
  • American Law & Economics Association
  • Florida Bar - Business Law Section, Faculty Advisor, Executive Council
Honors & Awards
  • Who's Who Legal 100: Corporate Governance, 2014

Publications

Speaking Engagements