WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (September 16, 2014) – Gunster, one of Florida’s oldest and largest full-service business law firms, is pleased to announce that Robert B. Lamm has rejoined the firm as an Of Counsel attorney working out of its Fort Lauderdale office.

Lamm will co-chair Gunster’s securities and corporate governance practice. He also joins the firm’s corporate and health care law practices.

He will be a regular contributor to The Securities Edge, a blog begun in 2011 by Gunster securities attorneys and focusing on securities law topics of interest to executives of middle-market businesses.

Lamm served as chair of Gunster’s securities and corporate governance practice from 2000-2002.

Corporate governance – future trends

What can boards of directors look forward to, as investor and regulatory pressure continues to heat up? Given his vast experience in corporate governance, Lamm offers some predictions:

  • Small business will increasingly be the target of corporate reform efforts

“Most big companies have long since adopted such reforms as majority voting in uncontested director elections, elimination of supermajority votes and other anti-takeover provisions, and shareholder ability to call special meetings, to name a few,” Lamm says. “If investors and proxy advisory firms are to continue to grow, they have to find new targets, and small- and mid-cap companies fit the bill.”

  • Move toward greater diversity, increased scrutiny of board members

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that boards are coming under attack for being ‘male, pale and stale,’” Lamm says. “One way of accelerating diversity (and, arguably, fresh thinking) is to increase turnover on boards.”

Whether a company has directors with the skill sets needed to oversee the prevention of fraud, regulatory violations and other problems, is a question that will continue to be asked. “Just think of Target, where Institutional Shareholder Services recommended a vote against all the members of the Audit and Risk Committee, to hold them responsible for the now infamous cybersecurity breach,” Lamm offers. “Or the recent lawsuit against FedEx’s board in connection with a claim that FedEx illegally transported drugs.”

Read more in Lamm’s first Securities Edge post, The shape of things to come (thesecuritiesedge.com, 8/27/14).

More about Bob Lamm

Lamm has over four decades of experience as in-house counsel and corporate officer, at firms such as Pfizer, FGIC (Financial Guaranty Insurance Company),  W. R. Grace & Co. and CA Inc.  (now CA Technologies). He also has extensive experience with small and midcap public companies as well as nonprofits.

The depth and breadth of his experience in the realm of securities and corporate governance are a smart addition to Gunster’s team of seasoned professionals. See his complete bio on the Gunster website for more details.

Lamm is admitted to practice law in Florida and New York. He moved back to South Florida (from NY) in late 2012.

He is an active, long-term member of the Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals (where he served as chair of the Securities Law Committee from 2011 to 2014 and currently heads its Florida subchapter), and a senior fellow of The Conference Board Governance Center.

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About Gunster

Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 11 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa, The Florida Keys, Vero Beach and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With more than 160 attorneys and 200 committed support staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 350 largest law firms. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.

Contact:

Jenni Garrison
Director of Marketing & Communications
561-804-4350
[email protected]

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