1.   Among them are a poison pill, which makes a traditional hostile takeover prohibitively expensive, and a staggered board, which prolongs proxy fights.

2.   And Hewlett-Packard is preparing for the possibility of a proxy fight.

3.   And Walter Hewlett, a son of the William Hewlett, a founder of Hewlett-Packard, has vowed to lead a proxy fight against the deal.

4.   Another reason for the flurry of controversy is the sheer number of dissatisfied shareholders storming the ramparts with proxy fights.

5.   Arison indicated that a proxy fight was coming.

6.   At one time, GE had mounted a proxy fight for that meeting, but dropped that effort after Kemper agreed to put itself up for sale.

7.   At the time, it was the largest bank holding company to fend off a proxy fight, a Summit spokeswoman said.

8.   At the same time, LeBow is waging a proxy fight for control of RJR Nabisco, which he had been expected to lose.

9.   Both sides in the bitter proxy fight have pleaded their cases before Institutional Shareholders Services, whose recommendation for or against the deal could be crucial.

10.   A bank spokesman stressed that all four firms have long advised Chase, and there are no special plans afoot to fend off a hostile takeover or proxy fight.