Helene Banks is chair of Cahill’s M&A and Corporate Advisory practice group and a thought leader in the increasingly complex ESG arena.
Helene advises publicly-held and private companies in significant corporate and securities matters, with particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and capital markets transactions. She has represented sellers, acquirers, targets, financial institutions, shareholders and investors in M&A transactions, spin-offs, joint ventures, private and public equity and debt offerings, and tender offers. Her work ranges from managing complex international transactions for large public companies to guiding owners through investments in their privately held businesses to advising companies as they progress in their ESG journeys. Her breadth of experience gives her a unique ability to spot and solve issues and understand all aspects of complicated situations.
Helene is recognized as a leading M&A and Corporate Governance lawyer by The Legal 500 and for both M&A and Capital Markets Debt & Equity by IFLR1000. In 2024, Helene was named an honoree at NOW-NYC’s 2024 Women of Power & Influence Awards and highlighted as a notable ESG thought leader and grant-making trailblazer for women’s rights entities. In 2023, Helene was recognized as a Notable Leader in Sustainability by Crain’s New York Business and in Lawdragon's 500 Leading Dealmakers in America guide. Helene has been shortlisted for the Women in Business Law Awards Americas, Corporate Governance Lawyer of the Year in 2021 and 2022. She was also named among the Top 100 Women Leaders of New York for 2021 by Women We Admire and the 2020 Notable Women in Law by Crain’s New York Business.
Helene frequently speaks and writes on ESG, M&A, corporate governance, and board diversity issues. She has been published in Practical Law, NACD BoardTalk, NACD Directorship, Law360, The Deal, New York Law Journal and Corporate Secretary and has spoken on these topics at numerous industry events including The Deal’s Corporate Governance conference and Middle Market Seminar, S&P Global Sustainable1’s “Beyond ESG” webinar series, Mergers & Acquisitions’ Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A Speak and PE Innovators in ESG Speak events, and ACG NY’s Women of Leadership Summit. Please click here to read her latest article in The Deal, “Financings Hinge on Effective ESG Due Diligence.”
Selected Matters
M&A Transactions:
Capital Markets / Corporate Finance Transactions:
Helene was the first female partner elected in Cahill's corporate practice group and mentors many of the female corporate associates of the firm. Helene serves on the boards of the New York Women's Foundation, the Baruch College Fund, and Mitchell College. She served as a member of the National Women’s Law Center Leadership Advisory Committee, the development committee of the YMCA of New York City and the Grants Advisory Committee of the New York Women’s Foundation. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the Tada! Youth Theater and was the Board Chair at the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School where she is a Trustee Emeritus.