Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment Practice Highlighted by FactSet’s SharkRepellent as Top Ranked Legal Advisor to Activist Investors

Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP today announced that the firm’s Activist & Equity Investment Practice has been named by FactSet SharkRepellent as the top-ranked Legal Advisor to Activist Investors, based on FactSet’s Top Legal Advisors to Activists League Table 2014 data.  In its recently released report on U.S. activist activity, “The Go-To Advisors for Activists and Company Defense,” Olshan is noted as an “unequivocal go-to firm” dominating the market as the “most retained law firm by activists this year having worked on 42 campaigns.” 

Steve Wolosky, chair of Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment practice commented, “We’re delighted to be acknowledged by FactSet Shark Repellent as a dominant player in the activist investment community. Activity is at near record levels with more activist campaigns announced against S&P 500 companies in 2014 than even before.” Wolosky continued, “Our practice has been busier than ever this year, and most recently we represented activist client Starboard in a landmark, headline-grabbing replacement of the entire Darden Restaurants board, further solidifying the increasingly influential role that activist shareholders play in the corporate arena and the role that our practice has played in shaping this golden age of shareholder activism.”

FactSet SharkRepellent, a leading corporate governance researcher, further noted that Olshan advised clients on more activist campaigns this year than the next four highest ranked firms combined. Olshan’s Activist & Equity Investment practice proxy season generated impressive supporting statistics behind its 42 activist shareholder campaigns, including:

• 38 Nomination Letters Delivered
• 65+ New Board Members Seated
• 36 Initial Schedule 13D’s Filed
• 28 Settlements Negotiated

 This is the latest in a series of honors and recognitions that Olshan has recently received, including a “Tier 1” ranking in the New York City Metropolitan area for Securities and Capital Markets and Real Estate Law by U.S. News-Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” 2015, and a “Tier 2” ranking Nationally for those practices, selection of forty-five attorneys to Super Lawyers 2014, naming of three attorneys to The Best Lawyers in America 2015, the selection of two partners as “leading lawyers” in Chambers USA 2014, acknowledgement by Reuters and Activist Insight of Olshan’s position as a leading Activist practice nationwide and selection by Corporate Counsel magazine as one of the "2013 Go-To Law Firms®" for Fortune 500 Companies in Intellectual Property Litigation.

About Activist & Equity Investment Practice

Olshan's Activist & Equity Investment Practice Group is widely recognized as the nation's premier practice in representing activist investors in contested director elections, and represents activist investors in contested director elections and counsels clients on a wide variety of activist strategies, from proxy contests, consent solicitations and hostile takeovers to letter-writing campaigns and behind-the-scenes discussions with management and boards of directors. The Activist & Equity Investment Practice Group has been involved in seeking Board representation at over 300 public companies, including many high-profile activist situations over the past several years.

About Olshan

Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP, a law firm based in New York, represents major businesses and entrepreneurs in their most significant transactions, problems and opportunities. Olshan’s clients range from public companies, hedge, venture capital, private equity and other investment funds to entrepreneurs and private companies worldwide. Clients choose Olshan for innovative strategies and sophisticated, game-changing advice in corporate, securities law, equity investment and shareholder activism, complex commercial, corporate and securities litigation, real estate, intellectual property, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights, and advertising. Since its founding, Olshan has offered an alternative to the AmLaw 50 law firm business model with responsive, independent and client-focused legal counsel provided by the firm’s senior lawyers.