Sheppard Mullin partner Peter Menard regularly represents the firm’s public company clients in analyzing and, where appropriate, resisting shareholder proposals. In 2013, the firm represented a leading restaurant company in connection with a proposal by an animal rights organization to separate the roles of the restaurant company’s chairman and the CEO. Based on Sheppard’s analysis of defects in the proposal, the proponent withdrew the proposal within 24 hours of submission.
Menard and his team also advise clients on governance issues surrounding global supply chain management. In 2013, Sheppard represented a client that faced substantial penalties if it couldn’t file a registration statement as part of an exchange of privately offered debt instruments for publicly registered instruments. The client had a pending acquisition, and the application of a mechanical test appeared to require inclusion of updated financial information on the target that was unavailable. The firm worked with the company’s management and independent auditors to avoid special consent from the SEC and financial penalties.
