Law Commons^™

Corporate Natural Law: The Dominance Of Justice In A Codified World, Stuart R. Cohn

Stuart R. Cohn

One tends to think of corporate law as quite formalistic, bound by corporate statutes, articles of incorporation, bylaws, and customary rules of commercial conduct. While many aspects of corporate law are indeed so rule-bound, the truth is that the major issues facing directors, officers and shareholders, ranging from fiduciary duties to minority rights, are generally determined by much more amorphous principles of equity. Hence the notion of “corporate natural law.”

The Non-Merger Virtual Merger: Is Corporate Law Ready For Virtual Reality?, Stuart Cohn

Stuart R. Cohn

The term virtual mergers describes the relatively recent phenomenon of companies entering into contractual arrangements that are functionally, but not legally, equivalent to mergers prescribed by corporate statutes. Virtual mergers usually involve the shared use of assets contributed by each of the companies. A central element of the transaction is that the two companies remain legally independent, each with its own directors, officers, and shareholders. The arrangements can usually be terminated by either party, allowing each company to return to the status quo ante or exercise buyout rights if contractually provided. Although virtual mergers have occurred among public companies in …

The Worst Of Both Worlds: The Wild West Of The “Legal” Marijuana Industry, Luke Scheuer

Luke M Scheuer

As states have legalized marijuana, they have created a booming industry that operates in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Abuse Act. Like the tobacco and alcohol industries, this new legal marijuana industry has the potential to do great harm to American consumers and communities if it is not disciplined and restrained in how it sells and develops its products. Unfortunately the federal government has not yet stepped in to regulate the industry and state governments have imposed only limited controls. In addition, because of the increased threat of criminal and civil liability hanging over the industry, it has been …

Are "Legal" Marijuana Contracts "Illegal"?, Luke M. Scheuer

Luke M Scheuer

The “Legal” Marijuana Industry's Challenge For Business Entity Law, Luke M. Scheuer

Luke M Scheuer

In recent years many states have legalized the use and sale of marijuana for medical or even recreational purposes. This has led to the booming growth of a “legal” marijuana industry. Businesses openly growing and selling marijuana products to the consuming public are faced with some unusual legal hurdles. Significantly, although the sale of marijuana may be legal at the state level, it is still illegal under federal law. This article explores the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws from a business entity law perspective. For example, managers owe a fiduciary duty of good faith to their businesses and …

The Value Of Soft Variables In Corporate Reorganizations, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

When a company is worth more as a going concern than on a liquidation basis, what creates that additional value? Is it the people, management decisions, the simple synergies of the operating business, or some combination of these types of soft variables? And perhaps more importantly, who owns or has an interest in these soft variables? This article explores these questions under existing legal doctrine and practice norms. Specifically, it discusses the characterization of soft variables under applicable law and in financing documents, and it surveys related judicial decisions. It also considers the overarching public policy and Constitutional implications of …

Corporate Culture And Erm, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

The attitudes and actions of those viewed as leaders within a company (commonly referred to as “tone at the top”) help to define corporate culture and are critical to implementing a successful enterprise risk management (ERM) program. This paper explores the challenges and benefits of creating a risk-aware corporate culture, including the potential legal implications for boards of directors.

The Potential Cost And Value Of Erm, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

The concept of enterprise risk managment (ERM) as a holistic approach to managing a company's risk profile has tremendous appeal. However, companies are frequently skeptical about its value and whether the results will justify the cost, effort, and challenges of implementing a meaningful ERM process. This report considers some of those concerns and highlights the governance, compliance, and cultural value of ERM.

Criminalization Of Corporate Law: The Impact On Shareholders And Other Constituents, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

None available.

The Impact On Shareholders And Other Constituents, David Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Piercing The Corporate Veil, Financial Responsibility, And The Limits Of Limited Liability, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

Veil-piercing is the most heavily litigated issue in corporate law, yet legal doctrine in this area is notoriously incoherent. In this article, I argue that the only way to make sense of veil-piercing is through an accurate understanding of the policy underlying limited liability. Once that is appreciated it then becomes possible to make sense of the appropriate limits on limited liability. Piercing the corporate veil can then serve the useful function of distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate reliance on statutory limited liability. After surveying efficiency rationales for limited liability and finding them unpersuasive, I propose that the best way to …

New Game Plan Or Business As Usual? A Critique Of The Team Production Model Of Corporate Law, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

None available.

The Case Beyond Time, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

The Delaware Supreme Court's opinion in Paramount Communications, Inc. v. Time, Inc.' treats several important questions that arise in connection with hostile corporate takeovers. At the same time, it leaves three critical issues unanswered. In this article, we first briefly describe what the Time decision did, comparing Chancellor William Allen's somewhat discursive Chancery Court opinion with the more peremptory ruling of the Supreme Court. Next, we identify three unarticulated but potentially far-reaching implications of both the Supreme Court's and Chancellor Allen's reasoning that threaten to destabilize seemingly settled doctrine governing the conduct of target company management.

Recalling Why Corporate Officers Are Fiduciaries, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

For all the recent federal attention to regulating - and differentiating - corporate officer and director functions, a curious fact remains: state fiduciary duty law makes no distinction between the fiduciary duties of these two groups. Instead, courts and commentators routinely describe the duties of directors and officers together, and in identical terms. To lump officers and directors together as generic fiduciaries with no distinction being made between them, suggests - as patently is not the case - that their institutional function and legal roles within the corporation are the same. Such a view, consequently, undermines efforts more sharply to …

Corporate Takeovers And Corporate Law: Who's In Control?, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

New Directions In Corporate Law Communitarians, Contractarians, And The Crisis In Corporate Law, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Misreading The Williams Act, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Enron And The Dark Side Of Worker Ownership, David Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Worker Ownership Through 401(K) Retirement Plans: Enron's Cautionary Tale, David Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Missing The Point About State Takeover Statutes, Lyman P.Q. Johnson, David K. Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

The Naked Fiduciary, Michelle M. Harner, Jamie Marincic

Michelle M. Harner

Business law is grounded in the common law of fiduciary duty. Courts and policymakers have been loath to abandon that principle. Yet, particularly in the contractual context of limited liability companies (LLCs), the fiduciary label is illusory and may undercut sound governance practices for those entities. This Article presents an in-depth empirical study about governance provisions included in LLC operating agreements and examines the implications of the data in the context of various types of businesses that might choose to organize as LLCs. The Article uses the data and related case studies to offer a new approach to LLC governance …

Enlightened Shareholder Value, Social Responsibility, And The Redefinition Of Corporate Purpose Without Law, David Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Human Rights And Delaware Corporate Law, David Millon

David K. Millon

No abstract provided.

Mitigating Financial Risk For Small Business Entrepreneurs, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

Financial distress by definition threatens a company’s viability. Entrepreneurial and start-up entities are particularly vulnerable to this threat. Yet, much of the discussion following the recent recession focuses almost exclusively on financial institutions and “too-big-to-fail” entities. This essay re-examines lessons gleaned from the recession in the context of smaller, entrepreneurial entities. Specifically, it analyzes how small business entrepreneurs might invoke principles of enterprise risk management to mitigate the long-term impact of financial distress on their business models. It also considers related refinements to extant small business regulations, including the U.S. bankruptcy laws. The essay’s primary objective is to help policymakers, …

Activist Distressed Debtholders: The New Barbarians At The Gate?, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

The term “corporate raiders” previously struck fear in the hearts of corporate boards and management teams. It generally refers to investors who target undervalued, cash-flush or mismanaged companies and initiate a hostile takeover of the company. Corporate raiders earned their name in part because of their focus on value extraction, which could entail dismantling a company and selling off its crown jewels. Today, the term often conjures up images of Michael Milken, Henry Kravis or the movie character Gordon Gekko, but the alleged threat posed to companies by corporate raiders is less prevalent—at least with respect to the traditional use …

The Moral Responsibility Of The Corporate Lawyer, Judith A. Mcmorrow, Luke M. Scheuer

Luke M Scheuer

Lawyers traditionally claim that they are not morally accountable for the goals or activities of their clients that are within the bounds of the law. This essay explores this concept of non-accountability in the context of corporate transactional representation. We argue that corporate lawyers, whose practice is forward looking, undertaken on behalf of corporate clients who have legally impaired ability to engage in independent moral reasoning, and who function in a world of relatively minimal legal oversight (i.e. whose work is furthest from the model of the adversary system) cannot persuasively claim that they are not morally responsible for the …

Corporate Control And The Need For Meaningful Board Accountability, Michelle Harner

Michelle M. Harner

Corporations are vulnerable to the greed, self-dealing and conflicts of those in control of the corporation. Courts historically have regulated this potential abuse by designating the board of directors and senior management as fiduciaries. In some instances, however, shareholders, creditors or others outside of corporate management may influence corporate decisions and, in the process, extract corporate value. Courts generally address this type of corporate damage in one of two ways: they designate controlling shareholders as corporate fiduciaries and they characterize creditors, customers and others as contract parties with no fiduciary duties. The traditional roles of corporate shareholders and creditors may …

Ignoring The Writing On The Wall: The Role Of Enterprise Risk Management In The Economic Crisis, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

Enterprise risk management (ERM) targets overall corporate strategy and, when implemented correctly, can manage a corporation’s risk appetite and exposure. When ignored or underutilized, it can contribute to a corporation’s demise. In fact, many commentators point to ERM failures as contributing to the severity of the 2008 economic crisis. This essay examines the different approaches to ERM adopted by financial institutions affected by the 2008 economic crisis and how ERM contributed to the survival or failure of those firms. It then considers ERM in the broader context of corporate governance generally. This discussion reflects on ERM techniques for corporate boards …

The Search For An Unbiased Fiduciary In Corporate Reorganizations, Michelle M. Harner

Michelle M. Harner

When a company experiences financial distress, a control contest often follows. Management fights to remain in control of the company, and shareholders, creditors and others try to influence management’s exercise of that control—or wrest it away. This is not a new phenomenon. The degree of influence now exerted by corporate stakeholders in the distressed context, however, is strikingly different than in the past. Recent headlines highlight that stakeholder control issues are at the forefront of financially-distressed situations large and small. The U.S. government, as creditor, dictated the terms of Chrysler’s and General Motors’ bankruptcies. It also demanded and received preferred …

Duty To Report Attorney Misconduct, Luke M. Scheuer

Luke M Scheuer

No abstract provided.