Shawn Riley

Shawn is the Chair of McDonald Hopkins’ Board of Directors and Executive Committee, after serving as firm president for six years. He is also the founder of our Strategic Advisory and Restructuring Department. While firm president, Shawn took the leading role in the development and implementation of the Firm's Strategic Plan. In his legal practice over the past 30 years, Shawn has advised clients on strategic alternatives, including acquisitions, sales, mergers, affiliations, refinancings, recapitalizations, and restructurings. He has counseled boards of directors on meeting their fiduciary duties in a variety of circumstances and in a number of industries, including automotive, energy, manufacturing, retail, casual dining, plastics, telecommunications, healthcare – including community and rural hospitals and long-term care facilities – and higher education institutions in refinancings, restructurings, and mergers. He has counseled businesses and institutions ranging in size from $10 million in revenue to multi-billion dollar public companies. Although resident in (and former head of) the Cleveland office, Shawn’s clients are located throughout the United States.

Shawn is the author of numerous articles and is a frequent lecturer on corporate governance, restructuring and fiduciary duty issues.

Shawn earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University in 1986. He received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Kent State University in 1983.