Law Commons^™

The Misuse Of Tobin’S Q, Robert Bartlett, Frank Partnoy

Vanderbilt Law Review

In recent years, scholars have addressed the most important topics in corporate law based on a flawed assumption: that the ratio of the market value of a corporation’s securities to their book value is a valid measure of the value of the corporation. The topics have included staggered boards, incorporation in Delaware, shareholder activism, dual-class share structures, share ownership, board diversity, and other significant aspects of corporate governance. We trace the history of this flawed assumption, and document how it emerged from Tobin’s q, a concept from an unrelated area in macroeconomics. We show that scholars have misused Tobin’s q, …

The Shifting Tides Of Merger Litigation, Randall Thomas, Matthew D. Cain, Jill Fisch, Steven D. Solomon

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In 2015, Delaware made several important changes to its laws concerning merger litigation. These changes, which were made in response to a perception that levels of merger litigation were too high and that a substantial proportion of merger cases were not providing value, raised the bar, making it more difficult for plaintiffs to win a lawsuit challenging a merger and more difficult for plaintiffs’ counsel to collect a fee award. We study what has happened in the courts in response to these changes. We find that the initial effect of the changes has been to decrease the volume of merger …

Quieting The Shareholders' Voice, Randall Thomas, James D. Cox, Fabrizio Ferri

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Problems: An Overview, Mark S. Massel

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Securities regulation -- domestic and foreign -- has a technical fascination for the lawyer, whether he be a practicing attorney, corporate counsel, government regulator, or legal scholar. The intricate detail of the primary regulations and of their subsidiary byways provide opportunities for stimulating mental gymnastics. The piecing together of the various phases provides interesting occasions for experimentation, speculation, and analyzation.

Yet, a preoccupation with securities regulation which overlooks the setting can produce mere academic exercise. The need for an appreciation of the setting is all-important in examining foreign securities regulation. In considering United States securities regulation we do not need …

Rule 10b-5 And The Stockholder's Derivative Action, Lewis D. Lowenfels

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article focuses upon a new, emerging private cause of action based upon section 10(b) and rule 10b-5-a stockholder's derivative action initiated on behalf of a corporation which has been defrauded in connection with the purchase or sale of securities. Five reported cases, three decided in the last three months of 1964, have sustained a stockholder's derivative suit based upon section 10(b) and rule 10b-5. The significance of these decisions becomes apparent, not only when one considers that the derivative suit has traditionally been an internal corporate matter governed exclusively by state law, but also when one focuses upon the …

Business Associations -- 1961 Tennessee Survey, Kenneth L. Roberts

Vanderbilt Law Review

I. CASES

A. Disregard of Corporate Entity

B. Action in Corporate Name After Revocation of Charter

C. Effect of Merger

1. Privilege Tax

2. Statute of Limitations

D. Judicial Intervention in Internal Corporate Affairs

E. Disregard of Fictitious Corporate Records

F. Criminal Liability of Corporation for Acts of Agents

G. Corporate Venue Under Federal Anti-Trust Laws

II. STATUTES

A. Unincorporated Associations Treated as Corporations

B. Amendments to Securities Law

C. Massachusetts Trust Act

D. Industrial Development Corporation "Projects"

E. Amendments Relating to General Welfare Corporations

F. Miscellany