Law Commons^™

Assessing The Assessment: B Lab’S Effort To Measure Companies’ Benevolence, Michael B. Dorff

Seattle University Law Review

For benefit corporations to persuade their various audiences that they are as beneficial for society as they claim, they need reliable assessments of their social performance. Even if assessments were not required by most states’ benefit corporation statutes, it is difficult to imagine the benefit corporation form could gain credibility without them. Creating measurement tools for these assessments poses the twin challenges of balancing simplicity against validity and weighing vision against inclusiveness. This article examines how B Lab’s popular assessment tool engages these challenges.

Corporate Purpose And Litigation Risk In Publicly Held U.S. Benefit Corporations, Joan Macleod Heminway

Seattle University Law Review

With the likely prospect of publicly held U.S. benefit corporations in mind, this Article engages in a thought experiment. Specifically, the Article views the publicly held U.S. benefit corporation from the perspective of litigation risk. It first situates, in Part I, the U.S. benefit corporation in its structural and governance context as an incorporated business association. Corporate purpose and the attendant managerial authority, responsibilities, and fiduciary duties are the key points of reference. Then, in Part II, the Article seeks to identify and describe the salient, unique litigation risks that may be associated with publicly held corporations with the structural …

Finance And Growth: The Legal And Regulatory Implications Of The Role Of The Public Equity Market In The United States, Ezra Wasserman Mitchell

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The important study of the relationship between finance and economic growth has exploded over the past two decades. One of the most significant open questions is the role of the public equity market in stimulating growth and the channels it follows if it does. This paper examines that question from an economic, legal, and historical perspective, especially with regard to its regulatory and corporate governance implications. The US market is my focus.

In contrast to most studies, I follow both economic history and the actual flow of funds in addition to empirics and theory to conclude that the public equity …

Perspectives - Bms Building Management Systems, James Hagy, Frank Loffreno

Rooftops Project

How can not-for-profit organizations better prepare themselves to launch and sustain effective relationships with their outside janitorial, security, and maintenance service providers? Mike Doherty, President and CEO of BMS Building Management Services, and members of his New York City team consider these themes with Frank Loffreno and Professor James Hagy of The Rooftops Project.

Perspectives - David Samuels And Themes Karalis Of Duval & Stachenfeld Llp, James Hagy, Jordan Moss

Rooftops Project

Federal and state law can impose compliance requirements affecting both disposing of and transacting in real estate by not-for-profit organizations. In a dialogue with The Rooftop Project’s Jordan Moss and Professor James Hagy, David Samuels and Themes Karalis of the law firm Duval & Stachenfeld illustrate situations, including some unique to New York law and regulation, in which compliance and care are warranted.

Perspectives - Wework, James Hagy, Stephen Caracappa

Rooftops Project

While the concept of executive office suites has existed for decades, in recent years innovations have emerged seeking to provide a broader range of services and a sense of community combined with affordability and flexibility. Stephen Caracappa and Professor James Hagy of The Rooftops Project talk with WeWork executives David Fano and Mark Lapidus (Class of 2012) about the company’s business model, space concept and design, and the applications for not-for-profit organizations.

Perspectives - 120 Wall Street, James Hagy, Alison Snyder

Rooftops Project

Through a decades-long collaboration with the city and state, not-for-profit tenants occupy office space in a landmarked structure in the heart of Wall Street with the unusual advantage of no real estate taxes. The Rooftop Project’s Alison Snyder and Professor James Hagy interview Jeremy Moss and Camille McGratty of Silverstein Properties at the iconic 120 Wall Street building in lower Manhattan.

Profiles - Barrier Free Living, James Hagy, Christopher Whalen

Rooftops Project

What if you were homeless, a victim of domestic violence, and perhaps were also struggling with physical or mental disabilities? Where would you go? Christopher Whalen and Professor James Hagy of The Rooftops Project visit with Paul Feuerstein, founder, President, and CEO of Barrier Free Living, which has served these needs in New York City through a unique program established almost 40 years ago.

Profiles - The Sammons Center, James Hagy, Brenda Alejo

Rooftops Project

A historic but disused water pumping station, sited between active freeways, became an early and enduringly successful innovator in mission-centered notfor- profit supportive space for the arts. Brenda Alejo and Professor James Hagy of The Rooftops Project talk with Joanna St. Angelo, Executive Director of the Sammons Center for the Arts in Dallas, Texas.

Perspectives - Jonathan Denham And Paul Wolf Of Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, James Hagy, Kelly Padden

Rooftops Project

In a conversation with Kelly Padden and Professor James Hagy of The Rooftops Project, Jon Denham and Paul Wolf reflect on their experiences with not-for-profit projects across mission types to draw lessons about creativity in locating and securing permanent space in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

The Board’S Responsibility For Crisis Governance, Lawrence J. Trautman

UC Law Business Journal

A clear strategy and implementation plan for reasonably foreseeable industry disasters--- before they take place, helps to prevent mistakes made under conditions of severe stress. Survivalthreatening disasters such as the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill or natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires, or the March 11, 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, constitute any board’s worse nightmare. I have attempted to draw upon lessons from each of these disasters and explore how they may be applied more generally across all industries when crisis strikes. While effective risk management is perhaps the topic highest on every board's agenda, it is imperative …

Daily Fantasy Sports: A Call For Clear Guidelines, Paul Suh

UC Law Business Journal

Professional sports are no longer what they used to be. Imagine rooting for a “fantasy” team that consists of professional athletes, who may or may not have ties to your hometown, from different teams within the same amateur or professional organization. You question whether the countless hours of research spent in drafting your fantasy team were sufficient to win money from other contestants or participants by accruing “fantasy points” based on the statistical performances of individual athletes on a yearly or daily basis.

From Sports Stadiums To The Stock Exchange: The Economic Agency Costs Of Fantex’S Income- Share Agreements With Professional Athletes, Nicole Medeiros

UC Law Business Journal

With the advent of Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, FanDuel, and DraftKings, and other online platforms, sports enthusiasts can not only cheer for their favorite teams, but they can also draft a team of professional athletes, regularly monitor their players’ performances through detailed analytics, and even place friendly wagers. The recent launch of Fantex, a brand marketing and acquisition company, has taken fan engagement to the stock exchange by providing investors an opportunity to purchase stocks linked to their favorite athletes’ earnings. While income-share agreements are not entirely novel, Fantex is the first company to create and securitize income-share agreements with professional …

Corporate Governance As Moral Psychology, Alan R. Palmiter

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lyman Johnson’S Invaluable Contribution To Delaware Corporate Jurisprudence, Lawrence A. Hamermesh, Jack B. Jacobs

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Officers As Agents, Deborah A. Demott

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Shareholder Wealth Maximization As A Function Of Statutes, Decisional Law, And Organic Documents, Joan Macleod Heminway

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Repugnant Business Models: Preliminary Thoughts On A Research And Policy Agenda, Claire A. Hill

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Life (And Death?) Of Corporate Waste, Harwell Wells

Washington and Lee Law Review

At first glance, corporate waste makes no sense. The very definition of waste—a transaction so one-sided that no reasonable business person would enter into it, an act equivalent to gift or “spoliation”—suggests that it would never occur, for what corporation would ever enter into a transaction so absurd? Yet waste claims are regularly made against corporate managers. Respected judges have downplayed waste as a “vestige” and described it as “possibly non-existent,” the Loch Ness monster of corporate law; but waste survives. It is a remnant of ultra vires, a doctrine proclaimed largely dead for the last hundred years—but waste is …

Between Sin And Redemption: Duty, Purpose, And Regulation In Religious Corporations, Brett H. Mcdonnell

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Next Iteration Of Progressive Corporate Law, Matthew T. Bodie

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate Power Is Corporate Purpose Ii: An Encouragement For Future Consideration From Professors Johnson And Millon, Leo E. Strine Jr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Shrinking Scope Of Csr In Uk Corporate Law, Andrew Johnston

Washington and Lee Law Review

Through a historical analysis of corporate law reforms in the United Kingdom (UK) during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, this paper traces the shrinking scope for corporations to take socially responsible decisions. It offers a detailed examination of the rationales and drivers of the reforms, and shows that, by focusing exclusively on the question of accountability of directors to shareholders, wider social concerns were “bracketed” after 1948, leading to a permanent state of “crisis,” which constantly threatens the legitimacy of the corporate law system. Following the Brexit vote, there are signs that the UK Government is willing to reconsider …

Confident Pluralism In Corporate Legal Theory, Robert K. Vischer

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Who Bleeds When The Wolves Bite? A Flesh-And-Blood Perspective On Hedge Fund Activism And Our Strange Corporate Governance System, Leo E. Strine Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the effects of hedge fund activism and so-called wolf pack activity on the ordinary human beings—the human investors—who fund our capital markets but who, as indirect of owners of corporate equity, have only limited direct power to ensure that the capital they contribute is deployed to serve their welfare and in turn the broader social good.

Most human investors in fact depend much more on their labor than on their equity for their wealth and therefore care deeply about whether our corporate governance system creates incentives for corporations to create and sustain jobs for them. And because …

Profiles - Rosie's Theater Kids, James Hagy, Frank Loffreno

Rooftops Project

What started out as a single dance and song class in a borrowed New York City public school lunchroom has evolved into programming that touches the lives of students across all five New York City boroughs in a dedicated building near the heart of the Broadway theater district. The Rooftops Project’s Frank Loffreno and Professor James Hagy visit with Rosie’s Theater Kids cofounder and Artistic and Executive Director Lori Klinger and Director of Advancement Lindsay Miserandino at the Maravel Arts Center in New York’s Midtown West neighborhood.

Religious Conceptions Of Corporate Purpose, Ronald J. Colombo

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Effective Compliance With Antidiscrimination Law: Corporate Personhood, Purpose And Social Responsibility, Cheryl L. Wade

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Personal Reflections On A Scholarly Career, David K. Millon

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fiduciary Enterprise Of Corporate Law, Christopher M. Bruner

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.