KPERS executive director Alan Conroy presented a request for legal counsel Monday to the Legislative Budget Committee. No fees would be paid unless the suit is won (Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)
TOPEKA — The Kansas Public Employee Retirement System is preparing to obtain legal counsel on a contingent basis if it wants to join any potential lawsuit against companies it invests in.
While KPERS executive director Alan Conroy said there is no legal action ongoing or any planned, the system must be prepared as shareholders should a company it invests in violates any law. It could then be added to a class-action lawsuit. Kansas would not be the lead plaintiff in most cases, Conroy said, noting KPERS has not held this position in the last 15 years and only twice in the past 25 years.
“In most securities class action lawsuits, other investors with substantially greater investment portfolios than KPERS hold more shares in the defendant issuer than KPERS holds and, thus, have a larger financial interest in the relief sought,” Conroy said. “Most importantly, KPERS pays no fees for such representation as all attorneys’ fees are payable only if the case is settled or won.”
Conroy presented the request for legal counsel Monday to the Kansas Legislative Budget Committee. Any request for legal counsel that could potentially exceed $1,000,000 must come before the legislative panel for review and comment.
The legal counsel request would require no financial obligation from the state general fund, Conroy said.
“We will retain counsel, and then should something happen — usually it’s like a five-year contract — during those five years, we’d already have counsel retained to assist us,” Conroy said.
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by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector
December 23, 2021
TOPEKA — The Kansas Public Employee Retirement System is preparing to obtain legal counsel on a contingent basis if it wants to join any potential lawsuit against companies it invests in.
While KPERS executive director Alan Conroy said there is no legal action ongoing or any planned, the system must be prepared as shareholders should a company it invests in violates any law. It could then be added to a class-action lawsuit. Kansas would not be the lead plaintiff in most cases, Conroy said, noting KPERS has not held this position in the last 15 years and only twice in the past 25 years.
“In most securities class action lawsuits, other investors with substantially greater investment portfolios than KPERS hold more shares in the defendant issuer than KPERS holds and, thus, have a larger financial interest in the relief sought,” Conroy said. “Most importantly, KPERS pays no fees for such representation as all attorneys’ fees are payable only if the case is settled or won.”
Conroy presented the request for legal counsel Monday to the Kansas Legislative Budget Committee. Any request for legal counsel that could potentially exceed $1,000,000 must come before the legislative panel for review and comment.
The legal counsel request would require no financial obligation from the state general fund, Conroy said.
“We will retain counsel, and then should something happen — usually it’s like a five-year contract — during those five years, we’d already have counsel retained to assist us,” Conroy said.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
Noah Taborda started his journalism career in public radio at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri, covering local government and producing an episode of the podcast Show Me The State while earning his bachelor’s degree in radio broadcasting at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Noah then made a short move to Kansas City, Missouri, to work at KCUR as an intern on the talk show Central Standard and then in the newsroom, reporting on daily news and feature stories.
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© Kansas Reflector, 2021
Kansas Reflector is a nonprofit news operation providing in-depth reporting, diverse opinions and daily coverage of state government and politics. This public service is free to readers and other news outlets.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site.
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