About
About
CLO Advisory Services
Melanie Nealis has over 25 years of progressively responsible executive experience as a Chief Legal and Compliance Officer in both public and private global companies.
Melanie most recently served as the Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Artera Services, LLC, a $2.5B energy construction services company with over 10,000 employees. Her prior experience includes serving as the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Helios Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: HLIO), Deputy General Counsel at Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ROP), and Senior Corporate Counsel at Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN). She began her legal practice at the national law firm of Baker and Hostetler LLP.
Ms. Nealis has a deep breadth of experience running legal functions of all shapes and sizes, as well as managing compliance, insurance, risk, human resources, and ESG in her prior roles. She graduated with a BSBA in Human Resources, summa cum laude, from Xavier University and with a Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, with honors. Ms. Nealis is admitted to the bar in good standing in the states of Ohio and Georgia.
Representative Career Accomplishments of Ms. Nealis
- Managed complex merger, acquisition and divestiture projects ranging from $1m asset sales to $2B+ stock purchases
- Led capital market and recapitalization projects ranging from $100m to $2.5B+
- Created a legal department and function from the ground up for a $500m public company
- Developed junior legal talent from intern to senior attorney levels, successfully preparing multiple professionals to take on general counsel roles
- Reduced outside legal spend excess of $3m annually by successfully implementing in house strategies and invoice management tools
- Implemented governance programs such as Enterprise Risk Management and ESG; enhanced public company ISS governance scores
- Managed litigation and claims functions with 3,000+ annual claims
- Defended complex litigation matters including class and collective actions
- Advised on hundreds of corporate restructurings, including employee separations and legal entity changes
- Managed through corporate crises such as cyber-attacks, credit downgrades, mass layoffs, senior leadership investigations and transitions, and global pandemics
- Named Tampa Bay’s top corporate counsel of the year in 2021 and 2016 and recognized as an Ohio Super Lawyer (2006)
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