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Articles 1 - 30 of 36
Full-Text Articles in Law
Give It A Nudge: A Comparative Analysis Of The Values And Application Of Voluntary Environmental Programs In The United States, Pianpian Wang
Give It A Nudge: A Comparative Analysis Of The Values And Application Of Voluntary Environmental Programs In The United States, Pianpian Wang
Dissertations & Theses
In recent years, companies have increased their voluntary commitments to reducing carbon emissions and implementing sustainability goals. While existing research mainly focuses on government-organized voluntary environmental programs (VEPs), exploring corporate voluntary commitments is essential. The business sector’s active role in environmental management is noteworthy. Traditionally, governments have relied on command-and-control regulations and market incentives to compel companies to protect the environment. However, companies are now demonstrating a willingness to go beyond legal requirements. Naturally, we seek answers to whether these commitments are effective, what factors can contribute to their authenticity, and how we compare these voluntary commitments to other VEPs. …
Disclosure, Greenwashing, And The Future Of Esg Litigation, Jason J. Czarnezki, Barbara Ballan
Disclosure, Greenwashing, And The Future Of Esg Litigation, Jason J. Czarnezki, Barbara Ballan
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) disclosure movement is expanding both voluntarily, as businesses choose to disclose this information, and mandatorily, as government agencies impose disclosure requirements. As ESG disclosure expands, so do the litigation risks. “Greenwashing” refers to presenting false or misleading environmental or sustainability (i.e., “green”) qualities of products, services, or practices. Businesses may greenwash consumers as well as investors with false and misleading ESG disclosures in advertising, securities filings, or other public statements activating greenwashing litigation from investors and consumers. This Article addresses (1) the laws and regulations that cover consumer and securities greenwashing litigation, (2) how …
Teaching Sustainable Business Law & The Role Of Esg Lawyers, Jason J. Czarnezki, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Brianna M. Grimes
Teaching Sustainable Business Law & The Role Of Esg Lawyers, Jason J. Czarnezki, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Brianna M. Grimes
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article is the second paper in a series laying out the emergence of sustainable business law and the role of ESG lawyers. The first paper, Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role of Corporate Governance and Finance, argues “that ‘sustainable business law’ has emerged as a distinct area of law” and “serves as an introductory explanation to define and understand the growing subject matter at the intersection of sustainability, business, and the law.” That paper also explores the key role that corporate governance and finance play in achieving sustainability, and suggests that “[a] future project for scholars ... is to …
Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role Of Corporate Governance And Finance, Jason J. Czarnezki, Colin Meyers
Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role Of Corporate Governance And Finance, Jason J. Czarnezki, Colin Meyers
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Lawyers, law schools, and corporate entities have shown an increased interest in sustainable business strategies. This is reflected by the increase in sustainability practice groups, law school courses, and textbooks focusing on the relationship between sustainability and business law; lawyers moving into executive-level sustainability positions in the private sector; and the proliferation of corporate sustainability policies, as well as increased interest in mitigating climate risk and engaging in sustainable finance. But what exactly is sustainable business law, and what role do lawyers play in advancing sustainability in the corporate world? This Article argues that “sustainable business law” has emerged as …
From Public Health To Public Wealth: The Case For Economic Justice, Barbara L. Atwell
From Public Health To Public Wealth: The Case For Economic Justice, Barbara L. Atwell
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article examines how we can overlay the principle of serving the common good, which undergirds public health law, onto financial well-being. It suggests that we apply public health law principles to corporate law and culture. In matters of public health, we view quite broadly states' police power to protect the public good. Government is also empowered to protect the general welfare in matters of financial well-being. Using the “general welfare” as a guidepost, this Article challenges the conventional wisdom that corporations exist solely to maximize profit and shareholder value to the exclusion of virtually everything else. It proposes two …
Board Diversity By Term Limits?, Darren Rosenblum, Yaron Nili
Board Diversity By Term Limits?, Darren Rosenblum, Yaron Nili
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Four-fifths of the corporate board seats in the United States are held by men and a shocking number of companies lack any female representation on their boards. While institutional investors have pushed these companies for change, California took a more aggressive step and followed several European countries by mandating a quota for board representation. Heated argument has ensued over what diversity we should prioritize and what mechanisms should be used to promote diversity. Yet could these challenges be avoided altogether through the use of term limits?
This Article is the first academic inquiry exploring the connection between term limits and …
The Futility Of Walls: How Traveling Corporations Threaten State Sovereignty, Darren Rosenblum
The Futility Of Walls: How Traveling Corporations Threaten State Sovereignty, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Inversions--mergers in which one firm merges with another abroad to avoid taxes in its home country--have spread as globalization has reduced many of the transactional costs associated with relocating. As firms acquire the power to choose the laws that govern them, they challenge the sovereignty of nation-states, who find their ability to tax and regulate firms depleted. States and firms compete in a game of cat and mouse to adapt to this new global reality. The subversion of state power by these firms reveals the futility of walls, both literal and regulatory. This Essay describes the phenomenon of these “traveling …
California Dreaming?, Darren Rosenblum
California Dreaming?, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Over the past few years, California became the setting for shocking tales of sex inequality and abuse in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Decades after women achieved educational parity. men still run the corporate world. In response to these stories exposed by the #MeToo movement, California joined the transnational corporate board quota movement by converting its voluntary quota into a hard one. Will California's first mover status overcome constitutional objections and inspire other jurisdictions to act. Or is just Utopian dreaming, California-style? This Essay argues that despite its many flaws, the quota may succeed in curbing male over-representation on corporate boards. …
Beyond Corporate Form: A Response To Dan Depasquale, Surbhi Sarang, And Natalie Bump Vena’S Forging Food Justice Through Cooperatives In New York City, Jonathan Brown
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
In their article, Forging Food Justice Through Cooperatives in New York City, Dan DePasquale, Surbhi Sarang, and Natalie Bump Vena (the “Authors”) argue that consumer-owned and worker-owned cooperatives hold promise as a means for advancing policy objectives associated with “food justice,” namely building community wealth and power and providing more affordable access to healthy food in low-income and minority communities. Looking to examples of legislation and policies in other jurisdictions, they advocate for a wide range of policies to promote the viability of cooperatives in New York City, including reforms to cooperative corporation laws and strategies for better allocating funding …
When Social Enterprises Fail, Jonathan Brown
When Social Enterprises Fail, Jonathan Brown
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article identifies the conflicts between social enterprise legislation and bankruptcy law and presents a normative argument for a legal regime that would harmonize the two. Focusing on benefit corporations, the most widely adopted social enterprise form, this Article observes that existing law leaves uncertainty as to the role of directors at a time of financial distress and will produce outcomes that are at odds with the core goals of social enterprise legislation. Then, drawing on academic proposals for contract-based systems of bankruptcy, this Article argues that just as a firm may opt out of a corporate governance norm of …
Sex Quotas And Burkini Bans, Darren Rosenblum
Sex Quotas And Burkini Bans, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Essay recounts how feminist theorists and activists managed to write their ideals into the fabric of French law and culture, and how nonfeminists began to appropriate those ideals. Parité, the 2000 law that requires half of all candidates for public office be women, saw French feminists first engineer a change in French universalism to respect sex difference; although not wholly successful, Parité advanced women's political inclusion. Then, like a drop of water in a pond, these feminist ideas disappeared in plain sight: they became intrinsic to French state norms and public values. As they became woven into such norms, …
When Does Sex Diversity On Boards Benefit Firms?, Darren Rosenblum
When Does Sex Diversity On Boards Benefit Firms?, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Firms embrace diversity, especially with regard to sex. Overtly optimistic predictions of a diversity dividend, some built on sex stereotypes, lead these firms to count on profits that may never materialize. This Article attempts to reset the agenda on how to study corporate board diversity. We can only assess if and how sex diversity yields benefits by understanding the who, what, and where of diversity. Whether sex diversity produces a "diversity dividend" depends on three key factors: ( 1) the nature of the benefit of including women (whether for their experience or other qualities); (2) the kind of firm and …
More Than A Woman: Insights Into Corporate Governance After The French Sex Quota, Darren Rosenblum
More Than A Woman: Insights Into Corporate Governance After The French Sex Quota, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
In 2011, France enacted a Corporate Board Quota to establish a forty percent floor for either sex on corporate boards. Existing literature presumes that women will change the way firms function and that their presence in upper management will improve both governance and financial returns. To assess the potential impact of the quota, we interviewed twenty-four current and former corporate board members. Our analysis of these interviews generates two findings. First, our results indicate that, at least in the view of board members, the sex quota has had an impact on the process of board decision-making, but adding women has …
What Went Wrong: Prudent Management Of Endowment Funds And Imprudent Endowment Investing Policies, James J. Fishman
What Went Wrong: Prudent Management Of Endowment Funds And Imprudent Endowment Investing Policies, James J. Fishman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Most colleges and universities of all sizes have an endowment, a fund that provides a stream of income and maintains the corpus of the fund in perpetuity. Organizations with large endowments, such as colleges, universities, and private foundations, all finance a significant part of their operations through the return received from the investment of this capital. This article examines the legal framework for endowment investing, endowment investing policies, their evolution to more sophisticated and riskier strategies, and the consequences evinced during the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond. It traces the approaches to endowment investing and chronicles the rise and, …
Quotas And The Transatlantic Divergence Of Corporate Governance, Darren Rosenblum
Quotas And The Transatlantic Divergence Of Corporate Governance, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The French adoption of a corporate board quota for women reflects Europe's increasingly stakeholder-oriented approach to corporate governance, one that stands in marked contrast with that of the United States. This Article discusses how the corporate board quota will shift French and European corporate governance. The change accentuates an already established stakeholder corporate culture widespread in Europe, most notably evidenced by the presence of worker representation on boards. In contrast, the United States' corporate governance structure increasingly places the shareholder at its center. The proliferation of quotas for women on corporate boards in the national and transnational European contexts is …
When “Not Getting Caught” Is Not Enough: Preventing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations And Liability In International Project Finance, Clinton R. Long
When “Not Getting Caught” Is Not Enough: Preventing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violations And Liability In International Project Finance, Clinton R. Long
Pace International Law Review Online Companion
Reinhard Siekaczek, a skeptical former accountant of Siemens A.G., expressed little optimism that Siemens’ violations of German law and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act’s (“FCPA”) prohibitions against bribing foreign officials would deter others in a world full of corruption. Siekaczek states, “[p]eople will only say about Siemens that they were unlucky and that they broke the 11th commandment. The 11th commandment is: ‘Don’t get caught.’” At Siemens, Siekaczek participated in large-scale bribery by helping maintain a budget of tens of millions of dollars per year that was dedicated to bribing foreign officials, what one bureaucrat described as the “Siemens’ …
Re-Appraising The Appraisers: Expanding Liability To Buyers And Borrowers In The Story Of The 2008 Financing Industry Crisis, Shelby D. Green
Re-Appraising The Appraisers: Expanding Liability To Buyers And Borrowers In The Story Of The 2008 Financing Industry Crisis, Shelby D. Green
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
On the surface, suing in negligence seems the most promising avenue for recovery against appraisers, because liability depends on an examination of defendant's conduct alone and does not require an examination or defendant's mental state to show intent or agreement. But historically insuperable hurdles have operated to prevent recovery under this seemingly simple cause of action. One hurdle is lack of privity. The appraiser's legal relationship is with the hiring party--the lender--to assess the risks of the loan transaction and not with the purchaser, who may rely on the appraisal in making the decision to purchase. Because of the lack …
Interstate Comparison - Use Of Contribution Margin In Determination Of Price Fixing, Tsui Tat Chee
Interstate Comparison - Use Of Contribution Margin In Determination Of Price Fixing, Tsui Tat Chee
Pace International Law Review Online Companion
For over a century, anti-trust law has been used to maintain an open and fair market economy by preventing monopolies. However, anti-trust law has never precisely defined the term “monopoly”, which makes evaluating the interactions between the prohibition of monopoly and encouraging competition increasingly challenging.
In 2006, the Hong Kong Government appointed Arculli & Associates Solicitor Firm to study issues relating to competition in the auto-fuel retail market in Hong Kong. A test based on contribution margins was recommended, leading to the conclusion that price fixing is not a crime in the industry.
This article examines the problems related …
Commentary: The Federalization Of Nonprofit Regulation And Its Discontents, James J. Fishman
Commentary: The Federalization Of Nonprofit Regulation And Its Discontents, James J. Fishman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The Internal Revenue Service, at the instigation of the Senate Finance committee-the Service's primary congressional overseer-has commenced a corporate governance initiative by issuing announcements and guidelines, as well as providing educational advice as to how charities' internal affairs should be ordered. The Service also has revised the Form 990 Annual Information Return, a publicly available document, so that it contains mandatory corporate governance questions.2 Nonprofit organizations traditionally have been creatures of state law and overseen by state agencies and regulators.3 What is unique about the corporate governance initiative is the Service's admission that it lacks express statutory authority for this …
Director Liability For Corporate Crimes: Lawyers As Safe Haven?, John A. Humbach
Director Liability For Corporate Crimes: Lawyers As Safe Haven?, John A. Humbach
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The fines and penalties assessed against corporations are running into the billions of dollars each year. Part of the reason is that the managers and employees of entrepreneurial organizations have inherent incentives to engage in conduct that exposes the entity to fines and penalties. This article considers the legal bases for shifting these law-enforcement losses back to directors who are actively involved in creating them, either because they approved or they deliberately ignored the corporation’s legal or regulatory violations (Part II). It then examines bases for shifting these losses back to directors even when their involvement in the non-compliance is …
Stealth Preemption: The Irs's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative, James J. Fishman
Stealth Preemption: The Irs's Nonprofit Corporate Governance Initiative, James J. Fishman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The Internal Revenue Service, the primary federal regulator of charities, has initiated a corporate governance initiative. The intervention by the Internal Revenue Service into an area traditionally the preserve of state nonprofit corporate law has little relationship to issues of tax compliance. This corporate governance initiative has been accomplished in the face of IRS acknowledgement that it has no statutory authority relating to these issues. Yet, the power of the Service to recognize tax exempt status and the method it has used to ensure it vision of correct corporate governance practices through a series of questions when an organization applies …
Feminizing Capital: A Corporate Imperative, Darren Rosenblum
Feminizing Capital: A Corporate Imperative, Darren Rosenblum
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article argues that Norway’s Corporate Board Quota Law (“CBQ”) fosters a productive symbiosis between the public and private spheres. Recent studies indicate that higher numbers of women in executive positions result in stronger rates of corporate return on equity (“ROE”). Countries with higher levels of women's political representation also tend to have higher levels of economic growth. Increasing women's workforce participation outside the home can drive overall economic growth. These factors prompted the CBQ's proponents to argue for the economic imperative of women's corporate leadership. The CBQ will not only ameliorate gender inequality, but will bring new life to …
The Impact Of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 On Small Firms, Elina Grinberg
The Impact Of Sarbanes Oxley Act 2002 On Small Firms, Elina Grinberg
Honors College Theses
In reaction to major corporate scandals that rocked the corporate world in 2001 and 2002, Congress passed financial reporting reforms encompassed in the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on July 30, 2002. Shareholder/investor interests needed to be protected, and investor confidence in the public markets needed to be restored. Although the passage of Sarbanes Oxley has restored investor confidence in financial reporting, the high costs associated with SOX compliance has financially strained most small public companies and caused many of them to go into the private sector.
To Disclose Or Not To Disclose. That Is The Question For The Corporate Fiduciary Who Is Also A Pension Plan Fiduciary Under Erisa: Resolving The Conflict Of Duty, Shelby D. Green
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article examines the seeming irreconcilable conflict faced by the pension plan fiduciary, who is a corporate insider, to disclose or not to disclose material, inside information to plan participants, who would use the information to divest investments in company stock, without disclosing the same information to persons on the other side of these trades. The Article begins with a general discussion of the regulation of trade in securities and the history of the insider trading laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Part III discusses the soundness of the prohibition against insider trading. Part IV explains the duties …
Crime, War & Romanticism: Arthur Andersen And The Nature Of Entity Guilt, David N. Cassuto
Crime, War & Romanticism: Arthur Andersen And The Nature Of Entity Guilt, David N. Cassuto
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
In 2002, Arthur Andersen, LLP stood trial for obstruction of justice. The prosecution offered several theories as to who at the firm had committed the crime but no one theory satisfied all twelve jurors. In an attempt to break its deadlock, the jury asked whether it could convict i f some jurors thought Person A at Andersen had done it and some thought it was Person B. Following argument, the judge ruled that it could convict.
This article argues that the court's response to the jury's query was wrong as a matter of law and policy. The ruling misconstrues the …
Improving Charitable Accountability, James J. Fishman
Improving Charitable Accountability, James J. Fishman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article focuses upon a persistent problem of the nonprofit sector--its lack of accountability to the public. Director, officer, and organizational responsibilities will be analyzed. Past and current approaches to secure accountability of charitable assets will be discussed, and a proposal for improving charitable accountability will be suggested through the creation of public-private charity commissions at the state level under the aegis of the attorney general.
Government Liability For Economic Losses: The Case Of Regulatory Failure, David S. Cohen
Government Liability For Economic Losses: The Case Of Regulatory Failure, David S. Cohen
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Compensation claims against provincial and federal governments are largely a product of the second half of the 20th century. The initial surge of cases after the enactment of the federal Crown Liability Act in 1953--mirrored also in developments at the provincial level-- were typically "private" tort claims. Indeed a significant percentage of claims against the federal government continue to be nothing more than automobile accident, occupier liability claims and lawsuits arising out of similar relatively minor bureaucratic error. Recently, however, as a result of both the imagination of litigators and the growth of the regulatory state, claims against governments have …
"Reasonable Expectations" Define Board Power To Liquidate A Solvent Close Corporation In Bankruptcy, Shelby D. Green
"Reasonable Expectations" Define Board Power To Liquidate A Solvent Close Corporation In Bankruptcy, Shelby D. Green
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article will argue that, in the absence of contrary provisions in the articles of incorporation, the power of the board of directors of a solvent close corporation to file a voluntary petition for liquidation in bankruptcy must be determined by the theory of “reasonable expectations.” This doctrine not only addresses wrongdoing by those in control, but also defines the power and rights of close corporation participants. Part II briefly considers the uses of bankruptcy in recent years and comments on the peculiar occasion of a solvent corporation deciding to liquidate in bankruptcy. Part III summarizes the facts and identifies …
Defending The "Time Culture": The Public And Private Interests Of Media Corporations, Shelby D. Green
Defending The "Time Culture": The Public And Private Interests Of Media Corporations, Shelby D. Green
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Part I of this essay discusses the “public interest” standard under the Federal Communications Act and describes parallels in corporation doctrine. Part II considers whether broadcasters satisfy their public interest obligations by addressing audience interest. Part III discusses the prerogatives of the management of the corporate broadcaster to consider non-financial factors in selecting programming. Part IV describes the non-traditional philosophy of the corporation's legitimate object, which led to the subject case. Part V discusses the central legal issues of the cognizable business interests of corporations. Finally, the Conclusion offers a view on desirable public interest objectives of media corporations.
Corporate Philanthropy And The Business Benefit: The Need For Clarity, Shelby D. Green
Corporate Philanthropy And The Business Benefit: The Need For Clarity, Shelby D. Green
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The need for clarity or harmony is the subject of this essay. Part II summarizes a philosophical debate between two scholars on the mission of the corporation. Part III briefly traces the historical development of the relevant principles and Part IV examines the actual philanthropic practices of several large publicly held corporations. Finally, Part V considers the continuing significance of the common law rule in light of these practices and urges support for the ALI proposal.