Sharon Y. Bowen is a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins and is a member of the firm's Corporate Department where she represents corporations, private equity firms, financial and institutional clients on a broad range of corporate, finance and securities transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity, strategic alliances, securities offerings, corporate restructurings, distressed debt and asset acquisitions and venture capital financings.
Ms. Bowen is the Co-Chair of the firm's Diversity Committee and Chair of the firm's Diversity Hiring Subcommittee of the Recruiting Committee. In these twin roles, Ms. Bowen has helped guide the firm's diversity initiatives since the inception of the firm's Diversity Committee. Her commitment to diversity and to the community has been widely acknowledged. Ms Bowen was recently recognized by the Metropolitan Black Bar Association as its 2006 “Lawyer of the Year” and has been named the New York City Bar Association's 2007 Diversity Champion. She has also been selected as one of America's top Black lawyers by Black Enterprise. The Network Journal profiled Ms. Bowen in its 2006 cover story entitled “Attorneys at the Top,” and in a 2005 article describing her efforts to promote diversity within Latham, and Multicultural Law Magazine noted that Ms. Bowen was “part of a diversity momentum within the firm and the legal community." Ms. Bowen was a member of the 2008 DirectWomen Board Institute, a collaboration between Catalyst and the ABA Section of Business Law designed to develop and support the placement of women lawyers on corporate boards of major public companies. In keeping with her diversity work, the initiative also promotes the independence and diversity required for optimal corporate governance.
Ms. Bowen has served on various city, state and national bar association committees and is a frequent speaker at industry events. She also serves as a member of the board of directors of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Inc. (Executive Committee and formerly Chair), the New York City Economic Development Corporation (Executive Committee); Northwestern Law School (Chair, Executive Committee and Executive Committee of the Fund Board); PENCIL and UrbanAmerica, Inc.