Law Commons^™

Stoneridge Investment Partners V. Scientific-Atlanta: The Political Economy Of Securities Class Action Reform, Adam C. Pritchard

Articles

I begin in Part II by explaining the wrong turn that the Court took in Basic. The Basic Court misunderstood the function of the reliance element and its relation to the question of damages. As a result, the securities class action regime established in Basic threatens draconian sanctions with limited deterrent benefit. Part III then summarizes the cases leading up to Stoneridge and analyzes the Court's reasoning in that case. In Stoneridge, like the decisions interpreting the reliance requirement of Rule 10b-5 that came before it, the Court emphasized policy implications. Sometimes policy implications are invoked to broaden the reach …

Survival Of Rights Of Action After Corporate Merger, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Once a corporation ceases to exist, most courts permit neither primary nor derivative suits to be brought in its name. If a merger precipitates that corporate demise, courts usually hold that standing to sue, like other assets of the "merged" corporation, passes to the surviving corporation. This Note ponders the merit of that rule of passage.

Section I categorizes the cases defining the rule of passage. Some courts have steadfastly adhered to the rule and denied standing to the merged corporation's shareholders. Other courts, fearing that the rule would preclude meritorious actions, have created exceptions allowing these shareholders to sue …

Corporations - Liability Of Directors To Creditors For Negligent Management

Michigan Law Review

There is much confusion in the cases concerning a director's liability to a creditor for negligent management of the corporation. A clearer answer might be indicated by an examination of analogous situations involving individuals instead of corporations. It adds confusion to the law to have a different rule for a corporation than for a human being, and such a result should be avoided unless separate treatment is required by something inherent in the corporation. The least that can happen if a court thinks along these lines is that it will be more likely to know what it is doing.

Recent Important Decisions

Michigan Law Review

A collection of recent important court decisions.

Jurisdiction Over Foreign Corporations, Maxwell E. Fead

Michigan Law Review

During the last century, the standing of foreign corporations in our law has been radically changed; and the law on this subject at the present day is far from being in a settled condition. According to the early view, a corporation could have no legal existence outside of the state of its creation. This view was perhaps best expressed by Mr. Chief Justice Taney in his famous dictum in Bank of Augusta v. Earle. "And this corporation can have no legal existence out of the bounds of the sovereignty by which it is created. It exists only in contemplation …