Law Commons^™

Outside A Black Box: Court And Regulatory Review Of Investment Valuations Of Hard-To-Value Securities, Salvatore Massa

William & Mary Business Law Review

Valuation is a critical function of investment advisers that has significant implications for both clients and advisers. One potential risk associated with valuation is that an investment adviser may abuse its position in valuing portfolio assets to accrue higher management and incentive fees to the detriment of clients. Although the valuation function may be viewed as an objective exercise, adviser valuations become subject to greater levels of discretion for hard-to-value securities, making determinations of adviser abuse less clear. Depending on the transparency of the adviser, the valuation process itself may become a black box to the client. Securities and Exchange …

Creative Capitalism And Human Trafficking: A Business Approach To Eliminate Forced Labor And Human Trafficking From Global Supply Chains, Dana Raigrodski

William & Mary Business Law Review

A great amount of revenue generated by businesses in the global economy can be linked to the trafficking and enslavement of human beings. Yet, the current discourse on human trafficking fails to recognize the magnitude of benefit consumers, businesses, and economies gain from the work of forced and trafficked labor. Moreover, the limited efforts that seek to address this situation have focused on ways to encourage businesses to voluntarily adopt more socially responsible practices. These measures have had only limited success, and are generally believed to be in tension with the for-profit purposes of businesses. Hence, the task of convincing …

Tweet Upon A Star: Organic Brand Engagement With Celebrities On Social Media Platforms, Kristin M. Adams

William & Mary Business Law Review

Social media is a rapidly evolving form of digital communication in the modern age. Brands continue to focus increasing resources on garnering consumer attention on social media platforms and are demanding measurable results from agencies or internal social media marketing teams. To both increase and demonstrate the value of a brand’s social media presence, many companies are engaging in behaviors that entail riskier legal strategies. Perhaps the most substantial legal land mine is “real-time content,” in which brands create and post content on vastly accelerated timelines with truncated legal approval processes in order to interact meaningfully with consumers. This Note …

More Than Just A Toothache? N.C. Dental Leaves Medical Boards Vulnerable: A Look At Telemedicine Companies And Antitrust Challenges To State Prescription Drug Rules, Alexander R. Kalyniuk

William & Mary Business Law Review

Encouraged by technological advancements and favorable provisions within the Affordable Care Act, telemedicine companies that offer online doctor visits are thriving in the health care industry. Online doctor visits are a relatively new and cost-efficient method to provide medical care over long distances that do not require patients to step outside their homes. However, many state medical board scope-of-practice rules prohibit physicians from prescribing medications without an in-person physical examination of the patient, which impedes telemedicine companies from offering their online services in those states. To circumvent this barrier, telemedicine companies may have a prima facie case under § 1 …

Collateral Damage: The Legal And Regulatory Protections For Customer Margin In The U.S. Derivatives Markets, Christian Chamorro-Courtland

William & Mary Business Law Review

This Article provides a detailed analysis ofthe laws and regulations that apply to margin posted by customers entering into futures and cleared swaps contracts in the United States. It describes the types ofmargin accounts used by Futures Commission Merchants (“FCM”) and Central Counterparties (“CCPs”). It analyzes the rights of customers upon the insolvency of their FCM.

First, this Article explains why futures customers currently receive a lower level of protection under the Commodity Exchange Act than that received by cleared swaps customers under the Dodd-Frank Act. On the one hand, futures customers currently share risk as co-owners for margin that …

The Enigma Of Wynne, Edward A. Zelinsky

William & Mary Business Law Review

The five-justice Wynne majority used that case to make a major statement about the dormant Commerce Clause. In many respects, Wynne is an enigma that perpetuates an inherent problem of the Court’s dormant Commerce Clause doctrine: the Court declares some ill-defined taxes as unconstitutionally discriminatory because they encourage in-state investment, while other economically equivalent taxes and government programs that similarly encourage intrastate economic activity are apparently acceptable under the dormant Commerce Clause.

Wynne is thus more important than the immediate situation it addresses, and will have consequences beyond the immediate circumstances it addresses. A decision as enigmatic as it is …

The Restatement (Second) Of Contracts § 211: Unfulfilled Expectations And The Future Of Modern Standardized Consumer Contracts, Eric A. Zacks

William & Mary Business Law Review

By any measure, section 211 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts is a disappointment. The section purported to ensure the benefits of standardized contracts by presuming assent to all terms when a contract is signed or adopted. At the same time, section 211 made it unreasonable for drafting parties to rely on terms if the drafter knew or should have known that the other party would not have assented had the other been aware of such terms. Nevertheless, section 211 is rarely cited with respect to any standardized contract dispute, and even where cited, it rarely provides relief to the …

Lack Of Marketability And Minority Discounts In Valuing Close Corporation Stock: Elusiveness And Judicial Synchrony In Pursuit Of Equitable Consensus, Stephen J. Leacock

William & Mary Business Law Review

This Article discusses the often subtle tasks faced by the courts in construing close corporations law, which is state law. The judiciary in individual states has skillfully managed the invention, continuing development and ongoing evolution of lack of marketability and minority discounts as it strives to honor its constitutional mandate to resolve controversies between minority and majority shareholders in close corporations relating to valuing close corporations’ stock. These controversies arise in the context of share transactions in such corporations. Close corporations are traditionally not listed on stock exchanges, and the legislatures in some states have, in some instances, helped to …

The Volcker Rule And The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality: Utterly Incompatible, Christine P. Henry

William & Mary Business Law Review

The Volcker Rule, enacted in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Protection Act to address the “too big to fail” problem in today’s interconnected global economy, has been controversial from the outset. The deadline for banks to comply with Volcker regulations has been extended several times, with the most recent deadline set for July 21, 2016. This Note examines the impact of the Volcker Rule on foreign banks, detailing the specific effects of Volcker regulations on two prominent German banks, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, and analyzes the countervailing European approach to regulating proprietary trading and risky investment. …

Harnessing Human Potential: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Patentability Under The Lens Of Myriad, Derek Van Den Abeelen

William & Mary Business Law Review

After the Supreme Court's decision in Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetic's, previously patentable materials may now be rejected as unpatentable subject matter, specifically because they cover natural products. This presents a problem for businesses performing adult stem cell research and development, because stem cells exist in nature but pluripotency in adult stem cells does not. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and federal courts must recognize that these stem cells are still patentable because there is human intervention that creates a product that could not exist in nature on its own. Neither the USPTO nor any …

Burgers, Doughnuts, And Expatriations: An Analysis Of The Tax Inversion Epidemic And A Solution Presented Through The Lens Of The Burger King-Tim Hortons Merger, Chris Capurso

William & Mary Business Law Review

Currently, the concept of tax inversion is a major corporate phenomenon. In the United States, companies pay taxes on all earnings, whether or not they were accumulated here. With one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, this is a major expense for U.S. corporations competing in the world market. While most companies simply deal with the tax burden, some U.S. corporations buy foreign companies and relocate the company headquarters to the acquisition’s home country. This corporate expatriation allows companies to avoid U.S. taxes on earnings in a number of ways. This Note will examine tax inversion through …

Why Now Is The Time To Statutorily Ban Insider Trading Under The Equality Of Access Theory, Bruce W. Klaw

William & Mary Business Law Review

This Article makes the case for a new U.S. statutory provision that defines and prohibits insider trading under an “equality of access” theory. It supports this claim, and contributes to the important public dialogue concerning this prevalent practice, by highlighting the moral and legal gaps in existing U.S. law that result from understanding the harms of trading on the basis of material nonpublic information solely with reference to fiduciary breach or misappropriation, as evidenced by the recent cases of United States v. Newman and United States v. Salman. It weaves legal analysis together with current literature in business ethics, moral …

The Global Significance Of Crowdfunding: Solving The Sme Funding Problem And Democratizing Access To Capital, Alma Pekmezovic, Gordon Walker

William & Mary Business Law Review

This Article provides a comprehensive review of the crowdfunding phenomenon. It argues that equity crowdfunding (“ECF”) and, to a lesser extent, peer-to-peer lending (“P2PL”) offer the possibility of a global solution to the small and medium-sized enterprise (“SME”) funding problem. In the United States, the SME funding problem is exacerbated by the markedly diminishing rate of startup formation, a factor that injects a degree of urgency into resolving the optimal means to implement ECF. Here, as with the “fin-tech” revolution, the law lags behind technological developments. The second main argument is that ECF enhances access to capital for SMEs globally …

Do Teacher Pay For Performance Schemes Advance American Education? What Education And Business Can Learn From Each Other In The Education Reform Movement, Devin R. Bates

William & Mary Business Law Review

States are quickly moving away from the uniform salary schedule used to compensate teachers and are instead implementing various forms of Pay for Performance. While Pay for Performance compensation schemes have proved effective in some areas of business, they are not uniformly applicable and are ill-suited to education reform. By outlining recent developments in this area of the law and by reviewing the justifications for Pay for Performance schemes, this Note shows what education can learn from business and what business can learn from education. Ultimately, it is in the self-interest of businesses to oppose the implementation of Pay for …

Chinese Regulation Of Issuer Earnings Forecasts: Recommendations For An Ex Ante Legal Framework, Chengxi Yao

William & Mary Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Kill The Monster: Promissory Estoppel As An Independent Cause Of Action, Susan Lorde Martin

William & Mary Business Law Review

Contract rules may be dissolving into tort-type notions of unfairness and injustice. Traditionally, promissory estoppel was viewed as a substitute for consideration in situations where promisors made promises knowing that promisees would act in reliance on them, the promisees did act on the promises, and the promisors refused to do what they promised to do, to the promisees’ detriment. The purpose of promissory estoppel was clearly one of fairness and preventing injustice by enforcing a promise not supported by consideration in very limited circumstances. In recent cases, however, courts have been approving the use of promissory estoppel as an independent …

Close The Waste Loopholes: Reassessing Commercial Item Regulations In Federal Procurements, Jim R. Moye

William & Mary Business Law Review

Classifying an item as commercial reduces the government’s ability to ask for information to determine whether prices are fair or reasonable, based on the assumption that these prices would e shaped by market forces. Since changes in procurement laws in the 1990s, contractors seem to want all items, as well as the entities that sell these items, to be listed as commercial. Contractors push for items to be labeled as commercial so they can avoid nearly all oversight and transparency requirements, which often results in the government buying blindly.

Protecting Brand Image Or Gaming The System? Consumer “Gag” Contracts In An Age Of Crowdsourced Ratings And Reviews, Lucille M. Ponte

William & Mary Business Law Review

Traditionally, businesses developed and controlled brand image through company-sponsored advertising and marketing campaigns. With the rise of social media, brand communications have become more interactive, especially on crowdsourced review sites. This increased interactivity helps companies to gain valuable insight into the consumer experience and to improve their brand image and customer engagement. Businesses soon learned that positive consumer ratings and reviews often translated into enhanced brand reputation and increased revenues. Some merchants and professionals seek to burnish their brand image by paying for positive reviews while others try to silence disgruntled customers through adhesive nondisparagement clauses. These gag clauses may …

With Malice Toward One? – Defining Nondischargeability Of Debts For Willful And Malicious Injury Under Section 523(A)(6) Of The Bankrupcy Code, Theresa J. Pulley Radwan

William & Mary Business Law Review

The federal bankruptcy system strikes a balance between the rights of debtors seeking a fresh start and the rights of creditors seeking repayment for debt. While many areas of the Bankruptcy Code provide examples of this balancing act, perhaps no area of the Code embodies this balance better than discharge of debt. Discharge of debt provides the fresh start for debtors on which the bankruptcy system rests, but the Code also protects the interests of creditors who would otherwise have their claims against the debtor discharged.

Section 523(a)(6) excepts from discharge any debt “for willful and malicious injury by the …

Presupposing Corruption: Access, Influence, And The Future Of The Pay-To-Play Legal Framework, Allison C. Davis

William & Mary Business Law Review

Political spending, in all of its various permutations, lies at the nexus between campaign finance law and pay-to-play law. Both of these legal doctrines seek to minimize the corrupting effects of money upon elected officials and candidates, and both impose various caps and restrictions on political contributions in order to do so. Over the past half-century, however, the Supreme Court has struggled to define what sort of activity constitutes “corruption” in the political sphere. In light of its decisions in 2010’s Citizens United v. FEC and 2014’s McCutcheonv. FEC—two seminal cases that dramatically altered campaign finance regulation— the Court now …

From Wreckage Comes Reason: How Detroit’S Chapter 9 Filing Helps Develop A Practicable And Principled “Good Faith” Standard, Scott A. Krystiniak

William & Mary Business Law Review

The city of Detroit is beginning to rise from the ashes following decades of fiscal ineptitude, social failure, and corruption. Bolstered by protections under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, Detroit has eliminated billions of dollars in debt and established a feasible plan for municipal reorganization. Now, Detroit is even considered an American “comeback story.” However, Detroit’s revitalization began on a tenuous foundation. The city’s creditors objected vigorously to the bankruptcy petition by claiming that Detroit had not filed its bankruptcy petition in good faith under § 921(c). Despite the relatively scarce and imprecise case law and jurisprudence surrounding § …