Law Commons^™

Legal Implications Of The Virtual Enterprise, Jan Gerhard Werner

LLM Theses and Essays

With technologies changing so rapidly today, being competitive in the market often requires corporations to form alliances and new types of relationships. One of these relationships is a Virtual Enterprise, which are similar to joint ventures and strategic alliances but are less formal, short lived, and highly flexible. Virtual Enterprises are especially useful when developing or producing computer products, biotechnology, telecommunications, industrial equipment, and consumer electronics. The characteristics of a Virtual Enterprise along with the special problems attorneys face in supporting their development, maintenance, and termination are analyzed in this thesis. Due to the informal and fast change nature of …

Reinsurance: Bad Faith Considerations And Insolvency Dilemma, Hui-Ju Hsieh

LLM Theses and Essays

Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company. The original insurance company is called the reinsured, and the insurance company that is contracted is called the reinsurer. The main purpose of reinsurance is to disperse or spread the risk of loss. The reinsurance relationship is frequently characterized as an exercise of fiduciary responsibility based upon an undertaking of utmost good faith between contracting parties. However, disputes arise; most litigation involving reinsurance has been between reinsurers and persons not party to the reinsurance agreement. This paper’s first major area of discussion is the relationship between the reinsurer …

Filling Gaps In The Close Corporation Contract: A Transaction Cost Analysis, Charles R.T. O'Kelley

Scholarly Works

This Article develops a more refined transaction-cost based theory which explains: why rational investors in jointly owned, closely held firms initially choose corporate form; why they leave the contractual gaps that they do; and how efficiency-minded judges should respond to postharmony disputes made possible by the form chosen and the gaps left. My theory takes into account not only the possibility that investors should have chosen partnership law, but also the advantages and disadvantages of organizing production as an implicit team, via long-term contracts between separate businesses or as a sole proprietorship. In explicating this theory of form choice, the …

Cable Traffic And The First Amendment Must-Carry Under A Diversity Approach And Antitrust As Possible Alternative, Bruno Vandermeulen

LLM Theses and Essays

Recent technological progress in the field of telecommunications has greatly changed the competitive structure between broadcasters, cable operators, and telephone companies. The legal and economic environment for these media participants has shifted, and new problems have arisen. One major problem is the enhanced threat of concentration of media corporations, as corporate bigness becomes desirable and the number of diversified owners of media outlets continues to decrease. This paper analyzes broadcasting regulations and subsequent case law to show the concern by the legislature and regulatory agencies to preserve diversity in opinion and media-ownership through emphasis on “localism” and a “marketplace of …

Corporate Audit Committees And Director’S Liability, Thomas M. Bentler

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis covers the creation and function of audit committees and its increasing utilization by companies that consequently increase their dependence on outside directors and the subsequent liability of non-committee board members. The first part of this article gives a general overview of the audit committee with a focus on the scope of its duties, its composition, its way of working, and the possible benefits and hazards for the corporation resulting from the establishment of such a committee. The second part will examine the impact of an audit committee on director’s liability under the federal securities law and state corporation …

Comments On Why Punitive Damages Don't Deter Corporate Misconduct Effectively, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

Professor Elliott begins his Article by proclaiming that “a fundamental revolution has reshaped the intellectual underpinnings of tort law.”

Legal Factors In The Acquisition Of A United State Corporation: Litigation By Hostile Targets, Johan E. Droogmans

LLM Theses and Essays

Acquisitions of United States corporations have become increasingly complex takeover contests, where bidders and target corporations are forced into offensive and defensive litigation strategies to protect their respective interests. Targets often assert that the bidders have violated federal or state securities laws, federal antitrust laws, federal margin regulations, federal and state regulatory systems, and federal anti-racketeering laws. These lawsuits are primarily based on the principal federal regulation of takeovers in section 14(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the Williams Act. Target litigation is customary, but entails certain disadvantages; a lawsuit rarely stops an offer, is expensive, …

Selected Issues In State Business Taxation, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

This Article surveys selected issues in state business taxation. The topics were chosen with the hope that they would be of general interest to the conference for which this Article originally was prepared. The Article therefore eschews the detailed case analysis that typifies much of the law review writing about state and local taxation--including my own--and focuses instead on broader policy and economic questions that those concerned with state business taxation should find no less important. Part II of this Article considers business taxes and state tax incentives. Part III discusses federal and state tax conformity. Part IV addresses a …

Corporate Social-Reform, The Business Judgment Rule And Other Considerations, Robert N. Leavell

Scholarly Works

In recent years there has been a well-publicized movement to induce corporations to use their economic wealth and power to achieve "social-reform," rather than carry on as usual by professing to be guided only by profit-making. Social change is sought by allowing shareholders to make, or influence directly, those management decisions which significantly affect the quality of life in this country. This approach has found support on college campuses and among the commentators in this field. The Securities Exchange Commission and the courts also have endorsed this approach by legitimating such a role for shareholders despite the fact that it …

The Role Of Efficiency Justifications In U.S.-American And West German Merger Control Law: A Comparison, Christian Westerhausen

LLM Theses and Essays

When merger control laws first emerged in the United States and West Germany in the early 1900s, some businessmen and economists argued that the efficiency of businesses was impeded by antimerger laws. They contended that only very large businesses could realize significant efficiencies, be internationally competitive, and attain technological progress. This paper analyzes the role that these efficiency arguments had on the laws in West Germany and the United States, respectively. German law mainly upheld the idea that preservation of competition was most important for business efficiency, but also included a provision that firms could put forward the social desirability …

Clarifying The Attempt To Monopolize Offense As An Alternative Protectionist Legislation: The Conditional Relevance Of "Dangerous Probability Of Success", James F. Ponsoldt

Scholarly Works

The wounded condition of several major American industries, including steel and textiles, resulting from foreign ‘predatory’ conduct has generated much commentary. At the same time, private spokesmen for our institutionalized business interests, including the financial community, have bemoaned American balance of trade figures, blaming them on such ‘impediments' to our export trade as foreign trade barriers and domestic antitrust laws. The two trade problems suggest a common theme: foreign governments have been unfairly aiding their business interests by protecting monopolized or cartelized foreign markets from American business penetration while also subsidizing, directly or indirectly, foreign invasion of certain targeted American …

Small High Technology Companies And Public Policy: A Legal Analysis, Werner W. Mielke

LLM Theses and Essays

This study analyzes the legal side of the public policy regarding high technology companies. It examines the role of small high technology firms in the national economy. The needs and problems of these firms are analyzed and categorized in order to have an analytical framework in which to examine their relationship with the prevailing legal environment. Finally, on the basis of selected laws and regulations, legal barriers and disincentives and the way to reduce them are examined as well as legal provisions intended to provide incentives and assistance.

State Income Taxation Of Multijurisdictional Corporations, Part Ii: Reflections On Asarco And Woolworth, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The first part of this Article, "State Income Taxation of Multijurisdictional Corporations: Reflections on Mobil, Exxon, and H.R. 5076" [79 Mich. L. Rev. 113], did not contemplate a sequel. The Supreme Court's decisions last term in two state corporate income tax cases, however, created an irresistible opportunity to write one. The Court's opinions in ASARCO and Woolworth picked up where its opinions in Mobil and Exxon left off. Yet the direction taken by these more recent decisions veers sharply from the course ostensibly set by their predecessors. This Article will consider the Court's latest pronouncements in this area in a …

State Income Taxation Of Multijurisdictional Corporations, Part Ii: Reflections On Asarco And Woolworth, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The first part of this Article, State Income Taxation of Multiurisdictional Corporations: Reflections on Mobil, Exxon, and H A 5076, did not contemplate a sequel. The Supreme Court's decisions last term in two state corporate income tax cases, however, created an irresistible opportunity to write one. The Court's opinions in ASARC0 and Woolworth picked up where its opinions in Mobil and Exxon left off. Yet the direction taken by these more recent decisions veers sharply from the course ostensibly set by their predecessors. This Article will consider the Court's latest pronouncements in this area in a continuing if quixotic effort …

Corporate Distributions And The Income Tax: A Consideration Of The Inconsistency Between Subchapter C And Its Underlying Policy, Charles R.T. O'Kelley

Scholarly Works

This Article suggests that although one part of a corporate distribution may be analogous to a sale and the remainder to a dividend, there is no overlap of, or competition between, analogies. This lack of overlap is apparent when one realizes that a dividend and a sale are methods of realizing different types of gain, rather than alternative methods of realizing the same type of gain. This Article examines the basic conceptual model underlying the present system of taxing corporate distributions, describes the appropriate treatment of corporate distributions that is suggested by an understanding of the underlying concepts, and indicates …

State Income Taxation Of Multijurisdictional Corporations: Reflections On Mobil, Exxon, And H.R. 5076, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The state tax field is experiencing a renaissance of sorts. The Supreme court has displayed a renewed interest in the area, handing down an unusual number of significant decisions addressed to the constitutional restraints on state tax power. State courts have exhibited a similar revival of interest in these problems through an outpouring of uncharacteristically thoughtful opinions concerning state taxation of multistate and multinational enterprise. Congress, whose concern with state taxation of interstate and foreign commerce has been sporadic, is again considering legislation that would limit state taxing authority in these domains. Even the executive branch, which seldom intervenes in …

State Income Taxation Of Multijurisdictional Corporations: Reflections On Mobil, Exxon, And H.R. 5076, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

The state tax field is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. The Supreme Court has displayed a renewed interest in the area, handing down an unusual number of significant decisions addressed to the constitutional restraints on state tax power. State courts have exhibited a similar revival of interest in these problems through an out-pouring of uncharacteristically thoughtful opinions concerning state taxation of multistate and multinational enterprise. Congress, whose concern with state taxation of interstate and foreign commerce has been sporadic, is again considering legislation that would limit state taxing authority in these domains.

Even the executive branch, which seldom intervenes in …

The Constitutional Rights Of Corporations Revisited: Social And Political Expression And The Corporation After First Nationial Bank V. Bellotti, Charles R.T. O'Kelley

Scholarly Works

The Supreme Court has addressed only a few occasions the extent to which corporations enjoy those constitutional rights so fundamental to private citizens. In this article Professor O'Kelley discusses the inherent difficulty in applying familiar constitutional principles to corporations and examines those cases in which the Supreme Court has either extended or denied to corporations various constitutional rights. Finding that two underlying conceptual doctrines -- the Field rational and the associational rationale -- have guided the Court in previous decisions in this area, he then applies these doctrines in an analysis of the recent Supreme Court decision in First National …

Is Georgia On Their Minds?--Some Legal Aspects Of Investment And Trade By Foreign Business Enterprises, Gabriel M. Wilner, Terry K. Smith

Scholarly Works

This article will focus on the legal environment within the State in regard to foreign investment and trade. In making this survey it is also necessary to note briefly the full context in which foreign investment and trade is accomplished. The State cannot act or fail to act in areas dictated by the economic, political, and social philosophies held by its citizens. Likewise, the State cannot act in areas in which the Federal Government has acted pursuant to the United State Constitution. Among the areas in which the State is prohibited or preempted from acting are foreign affairs, especially in …

State Taxation Of Interstate Business And The Supreme Court, 1974 Term: Standard Pressed Steel And Colonial Pipeline, Walter Hellerstein

Scholarly Works

It was an item of more than routine interest when the Supreme Court, late in the 1973 term, noted probable jurisdiction in two cases raising issues of central importance with respect to state tax power over interstate business. Standard Pressed Steel Co. v. Department of Revenue presented critical questions concerning due process and commerce clause limitations on a state's power to impose an unapportioned gross receipts tax on an interstate vendor; Colonial Pipeline Co. v. Traigle posed the recurring and unresolved question of the scope and vitality of the doctrine that the “privilege” of doing interstate business is immune from …

Corporate Finance Under The Georgia Business Corporation Code Of 1968, Pasco M. Bowman Ii

Scholarly Works

This Article will review the financial provisions of the new Georgia Business Corporation Code (B.C.C.), which will become effective April 1, 1969. On that date, the Code will automatically apply to virtually all existing domestic business corporations, other than banks, trust companies, railroads, and the several other types of corporations which obtain their charters from the Secretary of State. Existing domestic insurance companies will be subject to the B.C.C. to the same extent as they are now subject to the present general corporation law. The financial provisions of the B.C.C. are found primarily in Chapter 22.5, entitled "Corporate Finance." Key …

The Texas Gulf Sulphur Opinion In The Appellate Court: An Open Door To Federal Control Of Corporations, Robert N. Leavell

Scholarly Works

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has written an opinion in the Texas Gulf Sulphur case which seems to me unfortunate and in large part unnecessary. This comment is a brief statement of why I feel this to be the case.

Georgia's New Statutory Liability For Manufacturers: An Inadequate Legislative Response, E. Hunter Taylor Jr.

Scholarly Works

During its 1968 session the Georgia Legislature passed a bill intending to create a right of action in tort, independent of negligence, in favor of consumers, users or other foreseeably affected parties against manufacturers of defective products. While Georgia has been in need of judicial or legislative action in this realm, it is the author's thesis that the recently enacted statute is unsatisfactory and should be redrafted. The purpose of this article is as follows: (1) to describe and trace historically the problems which have been encountered in providing legal protection to the individual for injury caused by defective goods; …