Law Commons^™

Conclusion, Christopher C. Whitson --Special Project Editor, Thomas A. D'Ambrosio, Patricia A. Daniel, Kathryn N. Fine, Robert P. Mckinney, Marcia M. Mcmurray, Bennet L. Ross

Vanderbilt Law Review

Despite recent responses designed to combat the increased liability exposure of directors and officers, the personal risks for corporate insiders remain significant. With corporations operating in an ever-complex regulatory maze, there has been an increased focus on corporate accountability. The difficulty in resolving director and officer liability issues, however, arises in balancing the need to punish misguided fiduciaries with the need to protect aggressive managers who take good faith risks to produce increased corporate profits. While long-range solutions to this balancing problem are essential, directors and officers should pursue short-term tactics to reduce their risk of personal liability.

Because it …

Individual Liability Of Agents For Corporate Crimes Under The Proposed Federal Criminal Code, Stephen D. Goodwin

Vanderbilt Law Review

In discussing the contours of individual liability under section 403, this Note has not attempted to criticize the section's draftsmanship or counsel against its adoption. The philosophy of liability reflected in section 403 wisely avoids the imposition of vicarious liability on corporate officials. The defendant's personal misconduct, failure to act, or reckless failure to supervise invoke the sanctions of the provisions. In addition, subsections (b) and (c) provide a theoretical underpinning for punishing omissions that is preferable to the indicia of artificial "participation" relied upon in former state and federal cases.

This Note has also attempted to establish some limitations …

The Liability Of Public Corporations In England And America, Stanley D. Rose

Vanderbilt Law Review

The public corporation is a common device to carry on governmental activities in the British Commonwealth, Europe and the United States.' It has been the uniformly favored instrument of nationalization policies. The reason for the use of such a public body is "unquestionably due to the realization that it offers the most convenient though by no means the only method for a successful application in public enterprise of principles of business efficiency developed in the private field." The necessarily extensive dealings of private citizens with such corporations force the courts to face promptly the problem of the legal status of …