The Advisors' Blog

– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com

We haven’t heard much about this year’s wave of proxy disclosure lawsuits. In this blog, Latham’s Jim Barrall gives us the rundown. Here is an excerpt:

While the full extent of the proxy injunction lawsuits, investigations, and demands is not easy to track, it appears that in 2013 the Faruqi firm issued press releases announcing investigations of approximately 90 company proxies and has already publicized 35 such investigations in 2014. In addition, while the pace of lawsuit filings slowed after the early months of 2013, more than a few companies have since been sued to enjoin their equity plan votes or have received demand letters which have not resulted in lawsuits in some cases.

However, one thing is undeniable based on the public record: since the spring of 2013 three more major proxy injunction cases alleging deficient proxy disclosure have gone down to defeat, Morrison vs. The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Mancuso vs. The Clorox Company and most recently, Masters vs. Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Also, it appears that while the plaintiffs have managed to settle a few plan vote cases for legal fees and supplemental proxy disclosures in advance of scheduled shareholder meetings, they have not succeeded in enjoining any proxy votes in 2013 or to date in 2014.