Anya Freedman is a partner in BLB&G’s Los Angeles office and leads the firm’s Fiduciary & Governance Advisory Group. She empowers institutional investors to build best-in-class policies, navigate regulatory uncertainty, address legal risk in their diverse portfolios, and make sound strategic decisions in investment litigation.
Before joining BLB&G, Anya served for nearly a decade as the principal legal advisor to the City of Los Angeles public pension systems, which cumulatively invest approximately $70 billion in trust funds and administer retirement and healthcare programs on behalf of Los Angeles municipal employees and their families. She led the Public Pensions General Counsel Division of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. As general counsel, Anya advised pension boards and executives on board governance, regulatory compliance, responsible investing, and litigation arising from the funds’ diverse investment portfolios. Her experience included drafting and updating governance, investment, risk management, and litigation policies, and evaluating the pension funds’ strategic decisions in potential new investigations and litigation matters.
Specifically, Anya regularly evaluated and advised on corporate governance cases in the Delaware Court of Chancery and federal securities class actions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Anya’s experience in corporate governance litigation matters included leading a pension fund’s constructive engagement with a public company that resulted in an agreement by the company to further align the company’s Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee Charter and human resources compliance program with the pension fund’s responsible investment policies concerning anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and anti-retaliation. Anya also closely advised a Los Angeles pension fund regarding the decision to initiate a stockholder’s demand for inspection of corporate books and records under Delaware General Corporation Law Section 220 et seq., which investigation ultimately led to the fund’s decision to file a derivative action in the Court of Chancery on behalf of eXp World Holdings, Inc. against certain officers and directors, alleging that they had breached their fiduciary duty of oversight by failing to ensure that the company had in place reasonable reporting and information systems that would have allowed eXp’s officers and the company’s board to know about and prevent acts of sexual assault and misconduct, and by failing to appropriately address this misconduct when it was brought to the defendants’ attention. Anya’s responsibilities regarding federal securities litigation matters included advising a pension fund throughout the fund’s leadership of the investor class in In re Myriad Genetics, Inc. Securities Litigation, which settled for $77,500,000 following vigorous prosecution, expert discovery, and mediation with a former federal judge, setting a historic record as the largest securities class action settlement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and ranking in the top-ten recoveries within the Tenth Circuit. The complaint in that case was cited by the Federal Drug Administration in a new proposed rule regulating the predictive genetics industry.
At BLB&G, Anya provides informed and innovative counsel so the firm’s clients can protect the long-term value of their investments by taking legal action to remedy fraud, hold corporate insiders accountable for self-dealing and other misconduct, and level the playing field in financial markets. Anya brings to bear her deep expertise on fundamental fiduciary duties to advise BLB&G’s institutional clients every step of the way when making decisions how and whether to proceed in securities and corporate governance matters, including decisions to initiate a confidential inspection of books and records, file an independent case, opt out of a class action, remain a passive class member, partner with other investors to lead an action, or seek appointment as sole lead plaintiff.
Having led the complex legal operations of public pension systems, Anya understands that securities and governance litigation is only one tool in the fiduciary toolbox and must be integrated into a pension system’s governance and investment policies. Anya offers unique value for BLB&G’s institutional clients through fiduciary and governance advisory projects addressing the myriad legal and management challenges facing public pension leaders today. She serves as a trusted sounding board for in-house counsel and brings a collaborative approach to supporting interdisciplinary teams to advise boards and executives, refine policies and processes, and manage risk. Clients value her ability to communicate legal developments into actionable advice, integrate best practices and fiduciary principles to help leaders make sound decisions, engage with regulators and stakeholders to build consensus for innovative strategies, and bring leaders together to address common challenges and share best practices.
An industry thought leader on corporate governance, fiduciary duties, and investment litigation issues, Anya is currently a member of the Council of Institutional Investors’ Markets Advisory Council and has served on the Fiduciary and Plan Governance Steering Committee for the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA) since 2019. She frequently speaks on fiduciary and governance topics at pension and institutional investment industry conferences and has extensive experience providing fiduciary advice, training, and education to pension funds, including without limitation, strengthening compliance and risk management, engaging effectively with regulators and diverse stakeholders, consulting on strategic and business plans, supporting succession planning and leadership transitions, and implementing operational and technological changes in response to new legal requirements. Her recent articles and speaking engagements on corporate governance topics include:
- “Corporate Governance Litigation: A Fiduciary Framework,” SACRS Spring Conference 2025
- “Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting – Heightened Challenges to ESG, DEI,” NCTR 38th Annual System Directors’ Meeting, March 2025
- “In the Chair: Governance Lessons from Experienced Board Leaders,” SACRS Fall Conference, November 12, 2025
- “Overview of Fiduciary Duties for Public Pensions,” NAPPA LEC 2025
- “Don’t Leave Money on the Table: Strengthening Board Policies to Monitor and Litigate Corporate Governance Actions Arising from Mergers and Acquisitions,” SACRS Magazine, Spring 2025
In recognition of her achievements, Anya has been named to Lawdragon’s 2025 “500 Leading Litigators in America,” “500 X – The Next Generation,” and “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” lists.
Anya has completed the Women in Governance certificate program at UCLA Anderson School of Management, the Corporate Finance Fundamentals certificate program at UC Berkeley Law School, the Portfolio Concepts and Management certificate program at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Management Academy for Retirement System Managers certificate program through the California Association of Public Retirement Systems.