Cindy Zollinger is a cofounder of Cornerstone Research and was the company’s president and chief executive officer from January 2007 through June 2014. She has also held a number of other management and leadership roles with the firm. These have included leading the Silicon Valley office and serving on the executive committee and the board of directors.
Ms. Zollinger has over thirty years of experience directing research on economic and financial issues arising in complex litigation. Her primary focus has been on matters involving securities, corporate governance, executive compensation, taxation, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, valuation, and damages estimation. These cases have involved companies in the technology, financial institutions, media, entertainment, pharmaceuticals, retail, and apparel industries.
Securities
Ms. Zollinger has addressed issues of materiality, loss causation, and damages on hundreds of securities class actions, including testifying in federal district court regarding financial and statistical analyses. She has supported expert testimony for class certification, summary judgment, and trial. Ms. Zollinger has also led research analyzing allegations of insider trading in a large number of companies’ equities, options, and convertible debt. She worked on cases that involved claims regarding the allocation process in initial public offerings. In addition she has led cases involving residential mortgage-backed securities, along with debt and equity capital markets. She has worked on such cases as:
- In re JDS Uniphase Corporation Securities Litigation
- In re Everex Systems Inc., Securities Litigation
- Green v. Nuveen Advisory Group et al.
- In re Magma Power Securities Litigation
- In re Mary Kay Cosmetics Securities Litigation
- NL Industries v. Lockheed Corp.
Corporate governance
She has managed Cornerstone Research’s work on claims of allegedly improper governance practices. This has included analyses of board process, fiduciary duty, appropriate disclosures, shareholder rights, and changes in management control.
Executive compensation
Ms. Zollinger has conducted analyses for numerous executive compensation cases, including valuations of nonmonetary benefits. She has assessed the extent to which different factors have dictated remuneration, including performance, risk taking, firm viability, and shareholder rights.
Prior to cofounding Cornerstone Research, Ms. Zollinger was a senior vice president at an international management consulting firm. She also worked in banking and investment management. She has taught at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Law School. Ms. Zollinger is a member of the Business Leadership Council of Wellesley College.
Cynthia Zollinger Recognized as One of Silicon Valley’s Most Influential Women Leaders
Cornerstone Research Announces Michael Topper as New Board of Directors Chair
