About Jay Chaudhuri

Jay Chaudhuri has spent his career fighting for and working on behalf of the people of North Carolina. Before joining Cohen Milstein, Jay served as General Counsel & Senior Policy Advisor at the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, the sole trustee of the state’s $90 billion pension fund and administrator of the $8 billion defined contribution plan.

Jay oversaw all legal and corporate governance matters. He recovered more than $100 million for the pension and unclaimed property funds, including settlements with a real estate investment manager and custodian bank. Jay played a key role in uncovering alleged wrongdoing that led to eight investment managers paying the pension fund back $15 million and tougher, cutting-edge ethical standards for these managers.

Jay also helped organize a coalition of 11 public pension funds against Massey Energy’s Board of Directors and chairman, after a coal-mining explosion resulted in the death of 29 workers. That engagement resulted in key corporate governance changes and the chairman’s resignation. Today, the coalition’s engagement is cited as a model of collaboration among shareholder rights advocates. In addition, Jay worked closely with the Harvard Shareholder Rights Project where the department helped declassify twenty corporate boards, including Stanley Black & Decker, Hess, Lexmark, Foot Locker, and Jarden Corporation. Jay served as chair of the Council of Institutional Investors, an association of pension funds with combined assets of more than $3 trillion which serves as the leading voice for effective corporate governance and strong shareholder rights. As chair, he led the development and adoption of the organization’s long-term strategic plan.