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Full-Text Articles in Law

Corporate And Business Law, Laurence V. Parker Jr. Nov 2016

Corporate And Business Law, Laurence V. Parker Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

Over the past three years, there have been a number of legislative changes to Virginia's business entity statutes. In Part I,this article highlights the changes to the Virginia Stock Corporation Act ("VSCA") and the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act ('"VNSCA"). Part II highlights changes to the Limited Liability Company Act ("LLC Act"). Part III summarizes Virginia's new intrastate crowdfunding law. The Supreme Court of Virginia has also addressed several significant issues over the last three years, including the applicability of appraisal rights in a stepped transaction. Part IV reviews several of the significant cases during this period.


Who Speaks The Culture Of The Corporation?, Gwendolyn Gordon Oct 2016

Who Speaks The Culture Of The Corporation?, Gwendolyn Gordon

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Recent cases – Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores and Citizens United chief among them – evince a new understanding of the nature of the corporation and its place in society. Whether a corporation has rights – such as those of religious exercise – is not, however, just a question of legal interpretation. To answer this question requires a theory of group or cultural identity, that is, a theory of how a group may have “culture” separate and apart from those of the individuals that comprise it. And such a theory must address how to understand the meaning of culture when …


Shareholder Wealth Maximization As Means To An End, Robert P. Bartlett, Iii Aug 2016

Shareholder Wealth Maximization As Means To An End, Robert P. Bartlett, Iii

Robert Bartlett

In several recent cases, the Delaware Chancery Court has emphasized that where a conflict of interest exists between holders of a company’s common stock and holders of its preferred stock, the standard of conduct for directors requires that they strive to maximize the value of the corporation for the benefit of its common stockholders rather than for its preferred stockholders. This article interrogates this view of directors’ fiduciary duties from the perspective of incomplete contracting theory. Building on the seminal work of Sanford Grossman and Oliver Hart, incomplete contracting theory examines the critical role of corporate control rights for addressing …


Dissecting Hobby Lobby'S Corporate Person: A Procedural Proposal For Aligning Corporate Rights And Responsibilities, Andrew J. Fleming Jan 2016

Dissecting Hobby Lobby'S Corporate Person: A Procedural Proposal For Aligning Corporate Rights And Responsibilities, Andrew J. Fleming

Brooklyn Law Review

Over the years, the U.S. Supreme Court’s corporate personhood decisions have allowed for the corporation to become increasingly more “person-like” by recognizing corporate constitutional rights that were previously reserved for flesh-and-blood human beings. Yet in cases where the rights of corporations are evaluated, the Court’s analysis flows from an axiomatic conceptualization of the corporation as a static, theoretical being, as if plucked straight from a business organizations law school textbook. The result is a gulf between corporate rights as “persons” and corporate legal responsibilities. Nowhere is that gulf more evident than in the Court’s personal jurisdiction jurisprudence. In particular, this …


Another Bite At The Apple For Trade Secret Protection: Why Stronger Federal Laws Are Needed To Protect A Corporation's Most Valuable Property, Alissa Cardillo Jan 2016

Another Bite At The Apple For Trade Secret Protection: Why Stronger Federal Laws Are Needed To Protect A Corporation's Most Valuable Property, Alissa Cardillo

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Trade secrets are one of a corporation’s most valuable assets. However, they lack adequate protection under federal law, leaving them vulnerable to theft and misappropriation. As technology advances, it becomes easier and less time consuming for individuals and entities to access and steal trade secrets to a corporation’s detriment. Most often these thefts involve stealing trade secrets in an intangible form. Current legislation fails to adequately protect intangible trade secrets, leaving them vulnerable to theft. An amendment to the National Stolen Property Act that encompasses intangible trade secrets would close a loophole that currently exists relating to intangible assets, allowing …


The Abstract Void In Practice: Has The Statutory Business Judgment Rule Changed The ‘Acoustic Separation’ Between Conduct And Decision Rules For Directors’ Duty Of Care?, Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, Jake Miyairi Jan 2016

The Abstract Void In Practice: Has The Statutory Business Judgment Rule Changed The ‘Acoustic Separation’ Between Conduct And Decision Rules For Directors’ Duty Of Care?, Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, Jake Miyairi

Faculty Works

A recent outpouring of director sentiment claims that the stringency of directors’ duty of care is stifling entrepreneurial growth. This article explores whether the statutory business judgment rule has enhanced directors’ protection for legitimate commercial decisions, or clarified their liability for due care — the two express justifications behind its enactment. Directors’ protection for entrepreneurial decision-making cannot be amplified without broadening the pre-existing abstract void between the duty of care — as a conduct rule — and the general law ‘business judgment principle’ — as a decision rule. But Parliament’s desire to clarify and confirm the existing general law business …