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Articles 1 - 30 of 30
Full-Text Articles in Legal Profession
Paying For Performance? Attorneys’ Fees In Securities Fraud Class Actions, Stephen J. Choi, Jessica M. Erickson, A. C. Pritchard
Paying For Performance? Attorneys’ Fees In Securities Fraud Class Actions, Stephen J. Choi, Jessica M. Erickson, A. C. Pritchard
Law & Economics Working Papers
This Article studies whether plaintiffs' lawyers matter in securities class actions. We use inverse propensity score weighting (IPW) to compare the results in cases led by top-tier firms against those brought by lower-tier firms. This technique addresses case selection effects by using all of the cases led by a top-tier firm and then weighting the cases led by lower-tier firms based on how similar these cases are to the cases led by top-tier firms. We do find that top-tier lawyers obtain better outcomes for shareholders in a subset of securities class actions, specifically the cases against the larger (although not …
The Business Of Securities Class Action Lawyering, Stephen J. Choi, Jessica Erickson, Adam C. Pritchard
The Business Of Securities Class Action Lawyering, Stephen J. Choi, Jessica Erickson, Adam C. Pritchard
Law & Economics Working Papers
Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the United States play a key role in combating corporate fraud. Shareholders who lose money as a result of fraud can file securities class actions to recover their losses, but most shareholders do not have enough money at stake to justify overseeing the cases filed on their behalf. As a result, plaintiffs’ lawyers control these cases, deciding which cases to file and how to litigate them. Recognizing the agency costs inherent in this model, the legal system relies on lead plaintiffs and judges to monitor these lawyers and protect the best interests of absent class members. Yet …
The Business Of Securities Class Action Lawyering, Jessica M. Erickson, Stephen J. Choi, Adam C. Pritchard
The Business Of Securities Class Action Lawyering, Jessica M. Erickson, Stephen J. Choi, Adam C. Pritchard
Law Faculty Publications
Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the United States play a key role in combating corporate fraud. Shareholders who lose money as a result of fraud can file securities class actions to recover their losses, but most shareholders do not have enough money at stake to justify overseeing the cases filed on their behalf. As a result, plaintiffs’ lawyers control these cases, deciding which cases to file and how to litigate them. Recognizing the agency costs inherent in this model, the legal system relies on lead plaintiffs and judges to monitor these lawyers and protect the best interests of absent class members. Yet …
Changemakers: 'Hard Work, Determination, And Dedication': Arya Omshehe, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Changemakers: 'Hard Work, Determination, And Dedication': Arya Omshehe, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Life of the Law School (1993- )
No abstract provided.
The Summary Judgment Revolution That Wasn't, Jonathan R. Nash, D. Daniel Sokol
The Summary Judgment Revolution That Wasn't, Jonathan R. Nash, D. Daniel Sokol
Faculty Articles
The U.S. Supreme Court decided a trilogy of cases on summary judgment in 1986. Questions remain as to how much effect these cases have had on judicial decision-making in terms of wins and losses for plaintiffs. Shifts in wins, losses, and what cases get to decisions on the merits impact access to justice. We assemble novel datasets to examine this question empirically in three areas of law that are more likely to respond to shifts in the standard for summary judgment: antitrust, securities regulation, and civil rights. We find that the Supreme Court’s decisions had a statistically significant effect in …
Nagy To Testify Before Congressional Committee On Stock Trading Reforms, James Owsley Boyd
Nagy To Testify Before Congressional Committee On Stock Trading Reforms, James Owsley Boyd
Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)
No abstract provided.
A Babe In The Woods: An Essay On Kirby Lumber And The Evolution Of Corporate Law, Lawrence Hamermesh
A Babe In The Woods: An Essay On Kirby Lumber And The Evolution Of Corporate Law, Lawrence Hamermesh
All Faculty Scholarship
This essay examines the development of corporate law during the time span of the author's career, focusing on the interrelated subjects of valuation, corporate purpose, and shareholder litigation.
Revising Boilerplate: A Comparison Of Private And Public Company Transactions, Stephen J. Choi, Robert E. Scott, G. Mitu Gulati
Revising Boilerplate: A Comparison Of Private And Public Company Transactions, Stephen J. Choi, Robert E. Scott, G. Mitu Gulati
Faculty Scholarship
The textbook model of commercial contracts between sophisticated parties holds that terms are proposed, negotiated and ultimately priced by the parties. Parties reach agreement on contract provisions that best suit their transaction with the goal of maximizing the joint surplus from the contract. The reality, of course, is that the majority of the provisions in contemporary commercial contracts are boilerplate terms derived from prior transactions and even the most sophisticated contracting parties pay little attention to these standard terms, focusing instead on the price of the transaction. With standard-form or boilerplate contracts, this dynamic of replicating by rote the terms …
Taking Compliance Seriously, John Armour, Jeffrey N. Gordon, Geeyoung Min
Taking Compliance Seriously, John Armour, Jeffrey N. Gordon, Geeyoung Min
Faculty Scholarship
How can we ensure corporations play by the “rules of the game” – that is, laws encouraging firms to avoid socially harmful conduct? Corporate compliance programs play a central role in society’s current response. Prosecutors give firms incentives – through discounts to penalties – to implement compliance programs that guide and monitor employees’ behavior. However, focusing on the incentives of firms overlooks the perspective of managers, who decide how much firms invest in compliance.
We show that stock-based pay, ubiquitous for corporate executives, creates systematic incentives to short-change compliance. Compliance is a long-term investment for firms, whereas managers’ time horizon …
Mootness Fees, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Randall Thomas
Mootness Fees, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Steven Davidoff Solomon, Randall Thomas
All Faculty Scholarship
In response to a sharp increase in litigation challenging mergers, the Delaware Chancery Court issued the 2016 Trulia decision, which substantively reduced the attractiveness of Delaware as a forum for these suits. In this Article, we empirically assess the response of plaintiffs’ attorneys to these developments. Specifically, we document a troubling trend—the flight of merger litigation to federal court where these cases are overwhelmingly resolved through voluntary dismissals that provide no benefit to the plaintiff class but generate a payment to plaintiffs’ counsel in the form of a mootness fee. In 2018, for example, 77% of deals with litigation were …
Law Library Blog (November 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Blog (November 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Newsletters/Blog
No abstract provided.
Confronting The Peppercorn Settlement In Merger Litigation: An Empirical Analysis And A Proposal For Reform, Jill E. Fisch, Sean J. Griffith, Steven M. Davidoff
Confronting The Peppercorn Settlement In Merger Litigation: An Empirical Analysis And A Proposal For Reform, Jill E. Fisch, Sean J. Griffith, Steven M. Davidoff
All Faculty Scholarship
Shareholder litigation challenging corporate mergers is ubiquitous, with the likelihood of a shareholder suit exceeding 90%. The value of this litigation, however, is questionable. The vast majority of merger cases settle for nothing more than supplemental disclosures in the merger proxy statement. The attorneys that bring these lawsuits are compensated for their efforts with a court-awarded fee. This leads critics to charge that merger litigation benefits only the lawyers who bring the claims, not the shareholders they represent. In response, defenders of merger litigation argue that the lawsuits serve a useful oversight function and that the improved disclosures that result …
Reanalyzing Cost-Benefit Analysis: Toward A Framework Of Function(S) And Form(S), Robert B. Ahdieh
Reanalyzing Cost-Benefit Analysis: Toward A Framework Of Function(S) And Form(S), Robert B. Ahdieh
Faculty Scholarship
The analysis herein arises from the collision course between the sweeping reforms mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and a single sentence of the U.S. Code, adopted nearly fifteen years earlier and largely forgotten ever since. Few were likely thinking of Section 106 of the National Securities Market Improvement Act when the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted on July 21, 2010. As applied by the D.C. Circuit less than a year later in Business Roundtable v. SEC, however, that provision’s peculiar requirement of cost-benefit analysis could prove the new legislation’s undoing.
To help navigate …
Minding The Court: Enhancing The Decision-Making Process, Pamela Casey, Kevin Burke, Steve Leben
Minding The Court: Enhancing The Decision-Making Process, Pamela Casey, Kevin Burke, Steve Leben
Faculty Works
A compelling and growing body of research from the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience provides important insights about how we process information and make decisions. This research has great potential significance for judges, who spend much of their time making decisions of great importance to others. For most judges, this research literature is not part of their judicial education. This article reviews cutting edge research about decision making and discusses its implications for helping judges and those who work with them produce fair processes and just outcomes. It builds on a 2007 American Judges Association paper that encouraged judges …
Lawyers In The Shadows: The Transactional Lawyer In A World Of Shadow Banking, Steven L. Schwarcz
Lawyers In The Shadows: The Transactional Lawyer In A World Of Shadow Banking, Steven L. Schwarcz
Faculty Scholarship
This article examines how the role of transactional lawyers should change in the new world of shadow banking. Although transactional lawyers should consider the potential systemic consequences of their client's actions, their actions should be tempered by their primary duties to the client and by their responsibilities to the l,egal system more broadly.
Gender And Securities Law In The Supreme Court, Lyman Johnson, Michelle M. Harner, Jason A. Cantone
Gender And Securities Law In The Supreme Court, Lyman Johnson, Michelle M. Harner, Jason A. Cantone
Faculty Scholarship
The 2010 appointment of Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court meant that, for the first time, three female justices would serve together on that court. Less clear is whether Justice Kagan’s gender will really matter in how she votes as a justice. This question is an especially visible aspect of a larger issue: do female judges display gendered voting patterns in the cases that come before them?
This article makes a novel contribution to the growing literature on female voting patterns. We investigated whether female justices on the United States Supreme Court voted differently than, or otherwise influenced, …
Updating Our Understanding Of The Role Of Lawyers: Lessons From Mastercard, Scott R. Peppet
Updating Our Understanding Of The Role Of Lawyers: Lessons From Mastercard, Scott R. Peppet
Publications
No abstract provided.
The Corporate/Securities Attorney As A 'Moving Target' - Client Fraud Dilemmas, Marc I. Steinberg
The Corporate/Securities Attorney As A 'Moving Target' - Client Fraud Dilemmas, Marc I. Steinberg
Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters
This Paper analyzes the enhanced responsibilities and liability concerns that corporate/securities attorneys have in the post-Enron era. State ethical rules, SEC pronouncements, and court decisions are addressed. The ramifications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with respect to its impact on legal counsel also are explored. The Paper also provides insight focusing on the business attorney's role as counselor and gatekeeper when faced with the prospect of client fraud.
The Curious Complications With Back-End Opt-Out Rights, Rhonda Wasserman
The Curious Complications With Back-End Opt-Out Rights, Rhonda Wasserman
Articles
Class action litigation seeks to mediate pressing conflicts between individual autonomy and collective justice; federal supervision and local control; self-interested class counsel and the represented class. These conflicts are exacerbated when a federal court that approves a class action settlement later seeks to enjoin state court litigants from violating its terms. Yet the demand for such injunctions has increased in light of the advent of back-end opt-out rights. In recent years, class members have been afforded back-end, or delayed, opportunities to opt out of a class action once the terms of the settlement are disclosed. These back-end opt-out rights may …
From Sec Enforcement Attorney To Commissioner, Roberta S. Karmel
From Sec Enforcement Attorney To Commissioner, Roberta S. Karmel
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Sec Enforcement Of Attorney Up-The-Ladder Reporting Rules: An Analysis Of Institutional Contraints, Norms, And Biases, Michael A. Perino
Sec Enforcement Of Attorney Up-The-Ladder Reporting Rules: An Analysis Of Institutional Contraints, Norms, And Biases, Michael A. Perino
Faculty Publications
In their paper and in their earlier comments to the SEC on the proposed attorney reporting rules, Professors Cramton, Cohen and Koniak do an excellent job recounting the genesis of the attorney reporting requirements in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, describing the SEC's proposed and final rules and critiquing the rule's triggering mechanism and now apparently shelved noisy withdrawal requirement. Their case study of the recent Spiegel, Inc. independent examiner's report is a particularly useful vehicle for examining the practical implications of the SEC's policy and drafting choices. Although I was a member of a committee that submitted comments opposed to noisy …
Counselor, Gatekeeper, Shareholder, Thief: Why Attorneys Who Invest In Their Clients In A Post-Enron World Are "Selling Out," Not "Buying In,", A. Christine Hurt
Counselor, Gatekeeper, Shareholder, Thief: Why Attorneys Who Invest In Their Clients In A Post-Enron World Are "Selling Out," Not "Buying In,", A. Christine Hurt
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Enron, Watergate And The Regulation Of The Legal Profession, Arnold Rochvarg
Enron, Watergate And The Regulation Of The Legal Profession, Arnold Rochvarg
All Faculty Scholarship
The most famous scandal of the twentieth century was the Watergate scandal, which most notably led to the resignation of Richard Nixon as President of the United States. The significance of Watergate, however, extends further than the resignation of Nixon. Because Watergate involved so many lawyers, it had a great impact on the regulation of the legal profession. Although the twenty-first century has just started, the strongest contender for this century's most famous scandal is the Enron scandal. Although the Enron scandal is identified mostly with misconduct by accountants and corporate officials, it too involved lawyers and has impacted on …
Is There A Role For Lawyers In Preventing Future Enrons?, Jill E. Fisch, Kenneth M. Rosen
Is There A Role For Lawyers In Preventing Future Enrons?, Jill E. Fisch, Kenneth M. Rosen
All Faculty Scholarship
Following the collapse of the Enron Corporation, the ethical obligations of corporate attorneys have received increased scrutiny. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, enacted in response to calls for corporate reform, specifically requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to address the lawyer’s role by requiring covered attorneys to “report up” evidence of corporate wrongdoing to key corporate officers, and, in some circumstances, to the board of directors. Failure to “report up” subjects a lawyer to liability under federal law.
This Article argues that the reporting up requirement reflects a second-best approach to corporate governance reform. Rather than focusing on the actors …
The Qualified Legal Compliance Committee: Using The Attorney Conduct Rules To Restructure The Board Of Directors, Jill E. Fisch, Caroline M. Gentile
The Qualified Legal Compliance Committee: Using The Attorney Conduct Rules To Restructure The Board Of Directors, Jill E. Fisch, Caroline M. Gentile
All Faculty Scholarship
The Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a new corporate governance structure, the qualified legal compliance committee, as part of the professional standards of conduct for attorneys mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. QLCCs are consistent with the Commission’s general approach to improving corporate governance through specialized committees of independent directors. This Article suggests, however, that assessing the benefits and costs of creating QLCCs may be more complex than is initially apparent. Importantly, QLCCs are unlikely to be effective in the absence of incentives for active director monitoring. This Article concludes by considering three ways of increasing these incentives.
The Roles Of Individuals In Ucc Reform: Is The Uniform Law Process A Potted Plant? The Case Of Revised Ucc Article 8, Charles W. Mooney Jr.
The Roles Of Individuals In Ucc Reform: Is The Uniform Law Process A Potted Plant? The Case Of Revised Ucc Article 8, Charles W. Mooney Jr.
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Aggregation, Auctions, And Other Developments In The Selection Of Lead Counsel Under The Pslra, Jill E. Fisch
Aggregation, Auctions, And Other Developments In The Selection Of Lead Counsel Under The Pslra, Jill E. Fisch
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Shareholder Derivative Litigation And Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein
Shareholder Derivative Litigation And Corporate Governance, Mark J. Loewenstein
Publications
In approving settlements of derivative actions that include fees for plaintiff's attorney, courts typically announce that attorney's fees are approved if a substantial benefit is obtained. In fact, courts, particularly Delaware courts, approve settlements in shareholder derivative actions that included substantial fees for plaintiff's attorney, despite the absence of a corresponding benefit to the corporation. Frequently, the "benefit" obtained is a reform in corporate governance, which is of dubious value to the corporation. To deter frivolous litigation, courts should resist the temptation to approve these settlements just to dispose of the litigation. The paper concludes that fees should not be …
The Civil Opinions Of Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch: A Tribute, Stephen Wermiel
The Civil Opinions Of Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch: A Tribute, Stephen Wermiel
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
No abstract provided.
Duty To The Target: Is An Attorney's Duty To The Corporation A Paradigm For Directors, Roberta S. Karmel
Duty To The Target: Is An Attorney's Duty To The Corporation A Paradigm For Directors, Roberta S. Karmel
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.