Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights

In recent years, too many corporations—and the executives and boards that run them—have engaged in conduct that erodes shareholder trust, diminishes investor assets and steadily chips away at public faith in the markets. Think of the market timing, options backdating and junk mortgage scandals.

On our clients' behalf, we demand accountability, transparency and good faith. With an unfailing belief that shareholders should have a meaningful voice, we fight for their right to be heard. And we win.

Indeed, Labaton Sucharow has been successfully pursuing derivative and other shareholder actions for more than 50 years. We are highly experienced at engaging corporate leadership on behalf of shareholders to effect change both with and without resorting to litigation. Where litigation is the only vehicle to bring about meaningful change, we have, time and time again, successfully prosecuted actions through trial. In addition to our deep knowledge of corporate law and the securities regulations that govern corporate conduct, our office in Delaware where many of these matters are litigated, uniquely positions us to protect shareholder assets and enforce fiduciary obligations. For more information please visit our Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation Practice and our Derivative Litigation Practice.

We Are Change Agents

Equally important to the billions of dollars in damages we have recovered for our clients, Labaton Sucharow has responded to the repeated and widespread misconduct in the corporate marketplace with a persistent focus on reform. Indeed, we have pioneered some of the most aggressive and creative paradigms for corporate governance; reform that has resulted in enhanced accountability and transparency across markets and industries.

With each case we take on, we work not only to recover financial losses, but we challenge and change—head on—the structures and behaviors that enabled the egregious misdeeds to occur in the first place. Working to protect the interests of shareholders, we leave no stone unturned; examining the broad spectrum of checks and balances including executive compensation, director independence, auditing and financial reporting practices, disclosure and voting procedures to effect meaningful, lasting change.

Scholarship and Leadership

In addition to our work for our clients, Labaton Sucharow has been at the forefront of sweeping initiatives to compel broader corporate responsibility.

• Founding Member of the Institute for Law and Economic Policy (ILEP)
  One of the single most influential organizations in the area of corporate governance, ILEP unites the SEC and other leading government and self-regulatory officials, judges, scholars and policymakers to review and recommend change in the governance of public companies. Illustrative of ILEP's impact, its symposium law review articles have been cited by a number of renowned judges in the United States, including a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Labaton Sucharow founder Edward Labaton has served as President of ILEP since its founding more than 10 years ago.
   
• National Association of Shareholder and Consumer Attorneys (NASCAT)
  A membership organization of approximately 100 law firms that practice class action and complex civil litigation. Through the aegis of NASCAT, the Firm continues to advocate against those who would seek to weaken shareholders' rights, including their right to obtain compensation through the legal system through partisan legislation or regulation. Labaton Sucharow founder Lawrence A. Sucharow and Partner Ira A. Schochet have each served as President of this important organization.
• Labaton Sucharow is also a patron of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance of the University of Delaware and is active in the task force of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, which drafted recommendations on lawyers' roles in corporate governance.