RLM Finsbury Announces Appointment of Stephen Labaton and Charles Nathan as Partners

NEW YORK & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RLM Finsbury, a global leader in strategic communications and a trusted adviser to many of the world’s most successful companies, announced today that Stephen Labaton, a former award-winning journalist at The New York Times, and Charles Nathan, a senior legal counselor, investment banker, and Board advisor, have joined the Firm as Partners. Mr. Nathan will have the additional title of Senior Advisor. The pair will bolster the Firm’s overall strategic communications offering with added expertise related to corporate reputation, issues management, M&A and corporate governance, public affairs, and other areas.

“I am honored to be part of the global team and look forward to helping the Firm’s clients navigate complex communications challenges while achieving their business goals.”

Stephen Labaton joins the Firm from Georgetown Policy Advisors LLC, the public affairs firm that he founded in Washington, D.C. Over the last three years, Labaton built a successful practice providing strategic counseling to chief executives and senior regulatory, legal and communications officials at blue-chip companies about reputational issues at the intersection of policy, regulation and law, often in high stakes, high-profile proceedings. Labaton, who will be based in Washington and New York, will work closely with RLM Finsbury Partner and veteran public policy strategist Eric Eve to grow a Washington practice.

Charles Nathan joins the Firm from Latham & Watkins, where he retired as Co-Chair of its Corporate Governance Task Force and Co-Chair of the Global M&A practice. With his knowledge of transactional, governance, Board and shareholder situations – as well as his trusted, long-standing relationships across the banking and legal sectors – Nathan’s skills will enrich RLM Finsbury’s senior team of Partners in major financial centers around the world. Nathan will be based in New York.

Walter Montgomery, CEO of RLM Finsbury, said: “The addition of both Stephen and Chuck underscores the importance that RLM Finsbury has placed on recruiting top talent to enhance the global services that we provide to our growing clientele. Stephen and Chuck round out the terrific Partners that we’ve hired since our merger last year, including public affairs specialist Eric Eve and corporate communications expert Ed Adler. Together, these talented additions further bolster an already exceptional team of communications professionals capable of delivering an unmatched and relentless focus on execution and results to our clients.”

“Stephen distinguished himself as an elite journalist in both New York and Washington, and has since become a proven corporate communications strategist, a unique combination that our global clientele will greatly benefit from,” said Montgomery. “Chuck offers strong judgment, shrewd tactical insights, and a distinctive ability to develop communications strategies that resonate with shareholders and other key audiences, while taking into account the relevant legal and regulatory considerations which can impact outcomes. These unique skillsets require intellectual rigor and a deft touch; qualities that continue to stand as hallmarks of this Firm.”

“RLM Finsbury is an industry pioneer and leader that has long enjoyed a reputation for high quality work and successful results,” said Labaton. “I am honored to be part of the global team and look forward to helping the Firm’s clients navigate complex communications challenges while achieving their business goals.”

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the good fortune to work on diverse, challenging, and stimulating projects across the M&A and corporate governance spectrum,” said Nathan. “I look forward to continuing that work for RLM Finsbury and its extraordinary global clientele. Since its founding in 2011, this Firm has quickly cemented itself as a top-ranked global M&A communications advisor, and I’m eager to help build on that already sterling reputation.”

About Stephen Labaton:

During 23 years at The New York Times, Labaton wrote about an array of complex legal, financial and political issues, and was a two-time recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished journalism, the highest honor in business and financial reporting in the United States. He has also twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Labaton is a member of the board of the Juvenile Law Center, a leading nationwide advocacy organization for juveniles in the justice and welfare systems. He was a longtime member of the executive committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an organization that helps to advance the First Amendment rights of journalists. Labaton has a B.A. from Tufts University and M.A. and J.D. degrees from Duke University. He is a member of the bar in New York and Connecticut.

About Charles “Chuck” Nathan:

At Latham & Watkins, Nathan represented companies and financial advisors in many significant, high-profile mergers and acquisitions, including some of the largest domestic and global M&A transactions in recent years. Among those transactions, Nathan advised with colleagues on Roche’s acquisition of the public’s minority stake in Genentech, InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch, and Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster Entertainment. Prior to Latham & Watkins, Nathan was a Partner with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. Before that, he was a Managing Director and head of the Financial Institutions M&A practice at Smith Barney Inc., as well as Managing Director and Co-Head of domestic M&A at Salomon Brothers. He is the renowned author of many articles on M&A and corporate governance topics, is a frequent panelist at M&A and corporate governance seminars and programs, teaches M&A at Yale Law School, and has chaired a number of bar association committees. Nathan received his B.A. from John Hopkins University and his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he graduated summa cum laude.

About RLM Finsbury:

RLM Finsbury is a global leader in strategic communications and a trusted adviser to many of the world's most successful companies. The firm has managed some of the most complex, high-profile communications challenges and crises of the last three decades, including some of the largest international M&A transactions, IPOs and other capital raisings, proxy fights, corporate restructurings, and public affairs policy campaigns, as well as major litigation and government investigations. With offices in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Asia, RLM Finsbury provides expert counsel and support to clients around the world on interactions with the media, financial markets, employees, governments, and other vital stakeholders. RLM Finsbury was created from the 2011 merger of New York-based Robinson Lerer & Montgomery and London-based Finsbury. For more information, please visit www.RLMFinsbury.com.