Shareholder Activism

Over the past seven proxy seasons, FactSet, Refinitiv, and Activist Insight have credited our Shareholder Activism practice with over 200 activism campaign defense engagements – a margin of 75 campaigns more than the number of engagements credited to the second-highest ranked law firm. Chambers USA lists the leaders of V&E’s Shareholder Activism practice, Lawrence Elbaum and Patrick Gadson, as leading practitioners in its category for Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense (New York). In 2022, Chambers USA ranked the Shareholder Activism Practice as “Band 1” in their inaugural year for the practice category Corporate/M&A: Takeover Defense (New York). V&E is still one of only four law firms in the world with more than one attorney included in Chambers USA’s prestigious ranking for Shareholder Activism defense, but more notably, Vinson & Elkins is the only firm to secure a #1 ranking in both The Legal 500 U.S. and Chambers USA for the Shareholder Activism practice in 2022. The Legal 500 U.S. ranked the Shareholder Activism practice among the top law firms from 2019 – 2022 in the “Shareholder Activism – Advice to Boards” category. Additionally, our practice received a No. 1 ranking by Bloomberg following the same criteria for the full year in its inaugural Shareholder Activism league table in 2019 and in 2021.

V&E’s Shareholder Activism practice represents public companies across all industries and market capitalizations by defending against a wide array of shareholder activism campaigns including proxy contests, vote no campaigns, hostile takeover attempts, merger contests, short attacks, and other activist challenges. In addition, one of our practice leaders previously spent several years at another leading law firm exclusively focusing on representing activists. As a result, our clients are able to leverage our extensive experiences with both the company-side’s and the activists’ playbooks to develop cutting-edge defense strategies. We also work with select investors on activism campaigns and strategic “white squire” investments in public companies facing shareholder activism threats.

Shareholder activism campaigns can last for many months and require daily attention to deal with activist tactics such as press releases, fight letters, SEC filings, regulatory relations, and litigation. Our practice utilizes an integrated approach to address our clients’ issues throughout campaigns, working closely and seamlessly with leading investment banks, boutique advisory firms, proxy solicitors, public relations firms, private investigators, among others.

Our Shareholder Activism practice also works with companies in times of “peace” to proactively prepare them for shareholder activism by assessing and enhancing their organizational documents and corporate governance practices, and providing counsel on strategic relations with institutional and retail investors and proxy advisory firms. Additionally, our Shareholder Activism practice has pioneered a market-leading skill in recovering activism preparation and defense costs under our clients’ D&O insurance policies.

We also proudly devote considerable time to increasing gender and ethnic diversity in boardrooms and management suites throughout corporate America through hosting conferences, roundtables and continuing education seminars in partnership with national organizations that promote these important causes.