What Is a White Shoe Firm?
A white shoe firm is a business that has a reputation for promoting a set of ethics that excludes the practices that are sometimes employed in hostile takeovers and other attempts to undermine a given business operation. The exact origin of the term is contested, with some sources citing a fashion trend of the 1950s as the first appearance of the concept. Others believe the term was coined earlier as a means of identifying businesses that were highly conservative, somewhat closed to change, and thought to be somewhat elitist. The actual usage of the term today is sometimes still associated with elitism and is considered a negative rather than a positive description of a given business operation. When applied as a positive means of describing a business, a white shoe firm is one that stands firmly against the use of laws and various business strategies in an attempt to engage in a hostile takeover of any company. Firms of this type are sometimes known as shark repellent in the business
