Kessler Topaz is Proud to Recognize and Honor Women's History Month By Profiling Our Female Partners and Recognizing the Amazing Work They Do in Their Professional and Personal Lives
Partner Emily Christiansen focuses her practice on international shareholder and securities litigation. With nearly 10 years of experience working with foreign counsel and advising and assisting institutional investors in pursuing high-profile cases in jurisdictions around the globe, Emily has become the Firm’s expert on actions outside the United States. Emily has successfully represented institutional investors in some of the largest securities actions and resulting settlements outside the U.S. including: securities litigation in Japan against Olympus Corporation (¥11 billion settlement); securities litigation in the Netherlands against Fortis Bank NV (n/k/a Ageas NL) (€1.3 billion global settlement); and securities litigation in the Netherlands against Steinhoff International Holdings N.V., their auditors Deloitte & Touche and certain former and current Steinhoff directors (series of global settlements totaling $1.6 billion).
Emily serves on the Firm’s DEI Committee. Outside the Firm, Emily is active in the legal community and committed to promoting the rule of law. In 2020 Emily was named as an American Bar Foundation Fellow. ABF Fellow membership is limited to one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. Fellows are those who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession and to the welfare of their communities. They are recommended by their peers and elected by the Board of the American Bar Foundation. Emily has been an active leader within the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law since 2014 and she is currently serving as the Deputy Communications Officer (2020-Present). In 2018, Emily was selected by the American Council for Young Political Leaders (“ACYPL”) to participate in an exchange in North Macedonia that focused on Rule of Law issues. Emily graduated cum laude from the University of Portland with a double major in Political Science and German. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies she was awarded and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Germany. Emily received her law degree cum laude with a global law certificate from Lewis and Clark Law School. During law school she completed a legal externship in the judicial chambers at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, The Netherlands. Emily’s other interests include riding bikes (in all forms both indoors and out), travel, and spending time with her husband Paul and Great Dane Peanut.