Shannon’s accounting expertise finds fit in corporate law

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Meghan Shannon has often walked into a corporate meeting to discover she’s the only woman present. Most men — for the simple fact they are men — will not be able to fully understand what that’s like.

No matter, Shannon said, they can at least recognize why a woman might not be entirely at home in that sort of situation. A little bit of awareness, Shannon said, can go a long way toward making everyone feel more comfortable.

“It is just a different dynamic,” said the shareholder at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren. “So it’s just important to be creating awareness and observation about it.”

No matter who is in the room — men, women or both — Shannon is certain to find she fits in whenever the discussion turns to matters concerning financial and corporate law. Before choosing a legal career, Shannon had been putting an accounting degree from the University of Notre Dame to use working for the Chicago accounting firm of Arthur Andersen.

Even after deciding to pursue the law and graduating manga cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, she did not let her expertise from her early experiences go to waste. At Reinhart, her knowledge of accounting and finance made her a natural fit in the firm’s corporate department.

Now she finds herself working with businesses on everything from mergers and acquisitions, to fundraising to day-to-day legal issues. She said Reinhart’s corporate clients come in all sizes — not just big, publicly held firms but also small companies that are just getting their start.

She said the best part of her job is that it lets her regularly go beyond the sometimes-dry legal matters that make up so much of corporate law. She often finds herself helping clients with their business and expansion plans.

“I had a client call me the other day and ask for advice on the front end,” she said. “Sometimes it’s ‘Should I do this deal? How much should I pay? And how should I structure it?’”

Jerry Janzler, Reinhart’s CEO, said Shannon’s financial expertise has proved invaluable to the firm.

“Not all lawyers are as adept with the intricacies of financial statements, and it definitely makes a difference in a transaction when a lawyer has a thorough understanding of the financial aspects of a deal,” Janzler wrote in nominating Shannon for a Women in the Law award. “Meghan provides that advantage to her clients.”

Outside her work at the firm, she has spent countless hours volunteering for various organizations. Perhaps most remarkable has been the time she has dedicated to Susan G. Komen Southeast Wisconsin, where she has served as president for two years. In 2015, she was elected to the charity group’s national board of directors, based in Dallas.

Shannon has also spent a great deal of time providing advice and other assistance to young women who are just coming into the legal profession. If Shannon cannot get men to know precisely what it’s like to be the only woman in a room, she can at least help prepare young women for the realities of the corporate world.

“It’s important to tell them I’ve been in their shoes,” Shannon said. “And I think that’s what I’m passing on.”