Law Commons^™

How Corporate Governance Is Made: The Case Of The Golden Leash, Matthew D. Cain, Jill E. Fisch, Sean J. Griffith, Steven Davidoff Solomon

Steven Davidoff Solomon

This Article presents a case study of a corporate governance innovation—the incentive compensation arrangement for activist-nominated director candidates colloquially known as the “golden leash.” Golden leash compensation arrangements are a potentially valuable tool for activist shareholders in election contests. In response to their use, several issuers adopted bylaw provisions banning incentive compensation arrangements. Investors, in turn, viewed director adoption of golden leash bylaws as problematic and successfully pressured issuers to repeal them. The study demonstrates how corporate governance provisions are developed and deployed, the sequential response of issuers and investors, and the central role played by governance intermediaries—activist investors, institutional …

Rethinking Chutes: Incentives, Investment, And Innovation, Simone M. Sepe, Charles K. Whitehead

Charles K Whitehead

Eighty-two percent of public firms have golden parachutes (or “chutes”) under which CEOs and senior officers may be paid tens of millions of dollars upon their employer’s change in control. What justifies such extraordinary payouts? Much of the conventional analysis views chutes as excessive compensation granted by captured boards, focusing on the payouts that occur following a takeover. Those explanations, if they ever were complete, miss the mark today. This Article demonstrates, theoretically and empirically, that chutes are less relevant to a firm during a takeover than they are before a takeover, particularly in relation to firms that invest in …

How Delaware Law Made Appeal To Revive Gm Ignition Switch Suit A Non-Starter, Paul Regan

Paul L Regan

Addressing The Tension Between Directors' Duties And Shareholder Rights - A Tale Of Two Regimes, Sean Vanderpol, Edward J. Waitzer

Edward J. Waitzer

There is a basic tension inherent in the regulation of corporations between the role to be played by boards and that to be played by shareholders. Boards have the statutory responsibility to manage the business and affairs of the corporation, and owe an express duty to act in the best interests of the corporation. Shareholders, however, are the ultimate ‘owners’ of the corporation, and have the ability to elect and remove directors. Canadian courts and securities regulators have long struggled with this tension in determining the roles to be played by each in transactions that pose the potential for conflicts …

Peoples, Bce, And The Good Corporate "Citizen", Edward J. Waitzer, Johnny Jaswal

Edward J. Waitzer

This article considers the use of various legal instruments to advance a more expansive but well-defined view of directors' duties and discretion--a view which focuses on the longer-term interests of the corporation. We begin with an attempt to clarify the nature of directors' statutory duties under Canadian corporate law. We then consider the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in Peoples Department Stores Inc. (Trustee of) v. Wise and BCE v. 1976 Debentureholders, in which the Court took a broad view of corporate purpose, but failed to provide clear logic or operational guidance as to consequential directorial responsibilities. …

Politics Of Knowledge Dissemination: Corporate Reporting, Shareholder Voice, And Human Rights, Aaron A. Dhir

Aaron A. Dhir

This article considers the relationship between social disclosure and corporate accountability in Canada. It focuses on the potential benefits social disclosure can provide in terms of the overall human rights project. I explore this issue with reference to the broader theoretical frameworks of new governance and reflexive law. White I ground my analysis in these analytical approaches. I distance myself slightly from particular arguments in the literature to date: specifically, the argument that the disclosure process will result in self-correcting behaviour on the part of corporate decision makers. Rather, I argue that the value of social disclosure may lie more …

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 …

A Delaware Response To Delaware's Choice, Lawrence Hamermesh, Norman Monhait

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

This article is an invited response to Professor Subramanian’s article “Delaware’s Choice.” The article expresses skepticism, for two primary reasons, about the need for the change to Delaware’s takeover statute that Professor Subramanian proposes. First, there is uncertainty that the constitutionality of that statute would be evaluated today under a test as demanding as the one that was applied when the statute was upheld in the late 1980s. Second, citing an earlier article by A. Gilchrist Sparks and Helen Bowers, we question whether a constitutional evaluation of the takeover statute should be limited to data on tender offers that are …

M&A Under Delaware's Public Benefit Corporation Statute: A Hypothetical Tour, Frederick Alexander, Lawrence Hamermesh, Frank Martin, Norman Monhait

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

Noting the enthusiastic initial response to Delaware’s 2013 public benefit corporation statute, this Article presents a series of hypotheticals as vehicles for comment on issues that are likely to arise in the context of mergers and acquisitions of public benefit corporations. The Article first examines appraisal rights, concluding that such rights will be generally available to stockholders in public benefit corporations, and noting the potential for ambiguity in defining “fair value” where the corporation’s purposes extend to public purposes as well as private profit. Next, the Article examines whether and to what extent “Revlon” duties and limitations on deal protection …

Consent In Corporate Law, Lawrence Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

Recent Delaware case law explores and extends what the author describes as the “doctrine of corporate consent,” under which a stockholder is deemed to consent to changes in the corporate relationship that are adopted pursuant to statutory authority (such as by directors adopting bylaws). This essay examines whether and to what extent there may be limits on the application of the doctrine of corporate consent, and whether fee-shifting bylaws exceed those limits.

The United States, Lawrence A. Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

The Tort Foundation Of Duty Of Care And Business Judgment, Robert J. Rhee

Robert Rhee

This Article corrects a misconception in corporation law – the belief that principles of tort law do not apply to the liability scheme of fiduciary duty. A board’s duty of care implies exposure to liability, but the business judgment rule precludes it. Tort law finds fault; corporation law excuses it. The conventional wisdom says that the tort analogy fails. This dismissal of tort prinicples is wrong. Although shareholder derivative suits and ordinary tort cases properly yield systemically antipodal outcomes, they are bound by a common analytical framework. The principles of board liability are rooted in tort doctrines governing duty, customs, …

10 Things That Tick Off The Chancellors, And The Ethical Issues They Raise, Lawrence Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Delaware Corporate Law, Lawrence Hamermesh, Faiza Saeed, Mark Gentile

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To The Federalist Society's Panelist Discussion Titled "Deregulating The Markets: The Jobs Act", Lawrence Hamermesh, Peter Tsoflias

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

At its 2012 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C., the Corporations, Securities & Antitrust Practice Group of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies hosted a panel discussion titled "Deregulating the Markets: The JOBS Act." The panel members were the Honorable Daniel M. Gallagher, Joseph H. Kaufman, Joanne T. Medero, Professor Robert T. Miller, and Professor Robert B. Thompson. The Honorable Frank H. Easterbrook moderated the discussion. This Article begins with a cursory overview of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act" or "Act") provisions discussed by the panelists. It then summarizes the positions expressed by …

A U.S./Canadian Dialogue About The Current State Of Poison Pills, Lawrence A. Hamermesh, Pierre-Yves Leduc

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

A Delaware Lawyer In Chairman Schapiro's 'Court', Lawrence A. Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

Irreconcilable Differences: Director, Manager And Shareholder Conflicts In Takeover Transactions, Steven M. Davidoff, Caroline M. Gentile, Paul L. Regan

Paul L Regan

No abstract provided.

Silos, Corporate Law, And Bankruptcy Law, Lawrence Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

No abstract provided.

The Challenge To Delaware's Preeminence In Corporate Law, Lawrence Hamermesh

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

This short essay suggests that the focus on federal-state jurisdictional conflict over regulation of corporate governance in the U.S. is misplaced, and that declining levels of IPO's in the U.S. should be a concern shared by lawmakers at both state and federal levels. Those who reflexively advocate inflexible federal governance rules of wide application -- as opposed to regulatory reforms aimed carefully at unboundedly risky financial practices -- should prevail only upon a clear understanding that the potential benefits of such governance rules outweigh the risks associated with them.

Rationalizing Appraisal Standards In Compulsory Buyouts, Lawrence Hamermesh, Michael Wachter

Lawrence A. Hamermesh

This Article makes several contributions to the literature on Delaware appraisal law. We first argue that the "going concern value" standard adopted by the Delaware courts as the measure of "fair value" in share valuation proceedings is superior to its two main competitors, market value and third-party sale value, on grounds of both fairness and efficiency. Application of the going concern value standard has two important consequences. First, it is critical that going concern value be measured in a way that includes not only the present value of the existing assets of the corporation, but also the present value of …

A Business Review Of The Delaware Series: Good Business For The Informed, Ann E. Conaway

Ann E. Conaway

Delaware has long attempted to provide business structures that reflect the demands of the business community in an efficient and productive manner. One prime example of this demand/response is the "series" interest available in Delaware limited partnerships, LLCs, and statutory trusts. The series structure combines the flexibility that different types of businesses desire along with the statutory and contractual support that Delaware provides to all of its unincorporated business organizations. Other states have now emulated the Delaware series concept, although there is still considerable confusion as to how a series works. This piece provides an overview of some of the …