Group of Experienced Attorneys Offers Public Companies and Boards Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Dealing with Issues Involving the Granting & Exercising of Options Amidst Increased Public and Regulatory Scrutiny
July 10, 2006 – (New York, NY) – With the granting and exercising of corporate stock options coming under increased and intense scrutiny, Proskauer Rose LLP, an international law firm with more than 650 lawyers in the United States and Europe, has formed a special, multi-disciplinary Stock Options Task Force to work with public companies in all matters relating to stock option-related issues, including internal and governmental investigations, corporate governance issues, and tax, accounting, and Sarbanes-Oxley ramifications.
The Task Force is co-headed by the following partners: litigator Robert J. Cleary, co-Chair of the Firm’s Corporate Defense and Investigations Practice Group and a former U.S. Attorney; corporate partner Peter Samuels, and tax/employee benefits partners Michael Sirkin and Andrea Rattner. The Task Force includes more than 25 senior attorneys with extensive experience representing companies, boards of directors, and special committees in the complex and interrelated areas implicated by the stock option investigations. These include executive compensation, tax and insurance issues, criminal law and procedure, internal and government investigations, shareholder litigation, corporate governance, securities filings and restatements, as well as regulatory compliance, among others.
“With corporate stock option practices drawing heightened focus by federal investigators, auditors, the public, and the plaintiffs’ bar, it has become imperative for the management and boards of directors of public companies to carefully examine their past and current practices, regardless of whether or not the company is currently the subject of a probe,” said Allen I. Fagin, Chairman of Proskauer Rose.
“Because stock option practices, if handled improperly, can have far-reaching and potentially devastating implications both to the company and to individuals, from financial restatements to shareholder litigation to possible director liability, the issues must be dealt with in an expeditious, comprehensive, and interdependent manner,” he added. “We have significant experience representing companies facing option backdating investigations, and the Task Force brings together the several areas of expertise that the firm has and can bring to bear on these complex issues.”
Given the quarter close and recent auditor interest in these issues, Proskauer will host a webinar on the current issues and best practices in the coming weeks. For more information, contact the co-chairs or any Task Force member, who can be found on the Firm’s website. Contact information for the co-chairs is:
Robert J. Cleary 212.969.3340 – rjcleary@proskauer.com
Peter G. Samuels 212.969.3335 – psamuels@proskauer.com
Michael S. Sirkin 212.969.3840 – msirkin@proskauer.com
Andrea S. Rattner 212.969.3812 – arattner@proskauer.com
About Proskauer Rose
Proskauer Rose, founded in 1875, is one of the nation’s largest law firms, providing a wide variety of legal services to clients throughout the United States and around the world from offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Boca Raton, Newark, New Orleans and Paris. The firm has wide experience in all areas of practice important to businesses and individuals, including corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, general commercial litigation, private equity and fund formation, patent and intellectual property litigation and prosecution, labor and employment law, real estate transactions, internal corporate investigations, white collar criminal defense, bankruptcy and reorganizations, trusts and estates, and taxation. Its clients span industries including chemicals, entertainment, financial services, health care, hospitality, information technology, insurance, Internet, manufacturing, media and communications, pharmaceuticals, real estate investment, sports, and transportation. The Firm can be found online at http://www.proskauer.com.
