Alissa Mickels is an attorney at an international law firm and is a member of the California, District of Columbia and Paris Bar. She is also an adjunct professor of law at the University of Paris V: Descartes in Paris where she teaches courses on comparative law and corporate social responsibility.

Her practice focuses on international business law, corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, and white collar criminal defense matters. Ms. Mickels worked on a substantial internal investigation and subpoena collection effort in connection with a major Foreign Corrupt Practices Act probe involving a worldwide manufacturing group. She has also handled environmental audits for mergers and acquisitions and real estate transactions.

Ms. Mickels also regularly advises social entrepreneurs pursuing alternative corporate vehicles as well as social businesses on corporate governance as it relates to sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) issues. She has developed a unique practice in “for-benefit” models, hybrid organizations, and CSR policies.

Ms. Mickels has experience assisting sponsors, international organizations, investors, and commercial banks with major international energy and infrastructure projects in Africa, drafting and advising on both project documents, and finance documents.

Activities
Ms. Mickels also actively pursues pro bono opportunities with her firm. Her pro bono work includes volunteering for Droit d’Urgence, a local non-profit agency that seeks to provide legal assistance to the least fortunate in society, and for Parraine Ton Prochain, a non-profit organization which supports the development of a child’s education, health and well-being through individual sponsorship and sustainable projects in developing countries, including Burkina Faso.

Education
Ms. Mickels received her B.A., cum laude, in Cultural Anthropology & Religious Studies in 2004 from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2009, where she was the supervising editor for the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. She also received her LL.M. in European Private Law from the University of Paris II: Assas-Pantheon in 2009.

Speeches and Publications
“Beyond Corporate Social Responsibility: Reconciling the Ideals of a For-Benefit Corporation with Director Fiduciary Duties in America and Europe,” 32 Hastings Int’l & Comp. L. R. 271 (2009)

“Response to the Commission Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress [COM(2008) 794]” prepared within the framework of the European College of Paris Collège Européen de Paris (2009)

Invited to speak at the “Fourth Sector Strategy Roundtable on New Hybrid Legal Forms” convened with the Social Enterprise Alliance and Corporation 20/20 in New York, NY on July 17, 2008

Participated in the CSR Forum on “Promoting Effective Methods to Ensure Adequate Enforcement of International CSR Principles” on April 29, 2009.