Law Commons^™

Christianity And Bankruptcy, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

Although the term “bankruptcy” is nowhere to be found in the Bible, debt and the consequences of default are a major theme both in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament. In Israel, as in the ancient Near East generally, a debtor who defaulted on his obligations was often sold into slavery or servitude. Biblical law moderated the harshness of this system by prohibiting Israelites from charging interest on loans to one another, thus diminishing the risk of default, and by requiring the release of slaves after seven years of service. Jesus alluded to the lending laws at least …

Asia’S Response To The Us Indo-Pacific Strategy: Building The Rcep: Legal And Political Implications, Pasha L. Hsieh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Trump administration declared the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP) strategy as the new U.S. policy on Asia in 2017. This new strategy will have far-reaching implications for U.S.-Asia relations and global governance. The FOIP is conventionally perceived to focus on security dimensions. By “free,” the United States expects all countries “to exercise their sovereignty free from coercion by other countries.”1 The qualifier, “open,” is meant to refer to regional connectivity, in particular including freedom of navigation.2 Notably, the economic dimensions of this component also envision “fair and reciprocal trade” and “transparent agreements.”

Personal Property Security Law: International Ambitions And Local Realities, Giuliano G. Castellano, Andrea Tosato

All Faculty Scholarship

Personal property security law is a key element of “access to credit” and “financial inclusion”. The prevailing view is that a legal framework enabling the effective use of personal property as collateral markedly benefits both lenders and borrowers. Lenders can offer financing at a lower cost thanks to reduced credit risk; borrowers can access funding by leveraging the otherwise unavailable value of the assets integral to their operations.

Over the past century, the priorities of personal property security law have evolved fundamentally. As small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual entrepreneurs have become the growth engine of both developed and …

Symposium On Sustainable Development Goals, Trade, Investment, And Inequality, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Symposium, co-hosted by Afronomicslaw and the Dalhousie Law Journal Blog is an outcome of one of the streams at the 2019 Annual Purdy Crawford Workshop at the Schulich School of Law. The theme of the Workshop which took place from Sept. 26–28 was “The Role of Business Regulation in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.” Co-organized by three Schulich School of Law Professors, the Workshop featured three inter-disciplinary and simultaneous streams as well as cross-over plenaries that focused on: “SDGs and Revenue Mobilization” – convened by Kim Brooks, the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law; “SDGs, Trade, Investment, …

The Dodge Brothers’ Monster: A Legal Analysis Of The Effect Of Fiduciary Duty On Dual Voting Structures, Jer'ron J.L. Dinwiddie Ii

Student Publications

The purpose of this research paper is to determine the legal obligations that a shareholder with majority voting rights would have in a dual-voting structure. The focus on the paper is on breaking down the fiduciary duty analysis for its application to dual-voting structures, which currently stands as the shareholder with majority voting rights have no duty to other shareholders.

The paper details the evolution of the common law and the social responses to the use of these structures. Then, the paper measure the application fiduciary duty would have on a dual-voting structure using WeWork as a case study. On …

Law Library Blog (November 2019): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Unjust Enrichment In Asia Pacific, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Law School News: A Busy, Busy Time In Admiralty Law 10-18-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Inside Rwu Law's Small 'Admiralty Empire' 10-18-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Competition And The Antitrust Laws, Daniel A. Crane

Articles

Conventional antitrust norms analyze market power—as a stepping stone to anticompetitive effects and, hence, prohibited conduct—from the perspective of product substitutability. Two goods or services are said to compete with one another when they are reasonably interchangeable from the perspective of consumers, or to put it in more formal economic terms, when there is cross-elasticity of demand between them. Conversely, when two goods or services are not reasonably interchangeable, they are not horizontally related and are said not to compete with one another. Since a concern over horizontal agreements and horizontal effects dominate antitrust—courts even analyze vertical agreement or merger …

Comparing The International Commercial Courts Of China With The Singapore International Commercial Court, Zhengxin Huo, Yip Man

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The article critically reviews the litigation framework of the Chinese International Commercial Court("CICC') using a comparative approach, taking as a benchmark the Singapore International Commercial Court ("SICC')--another Asian international commercial court situated within the Belt and Road Initiative ("BRI') geography. It argues that the CICC, despite being lauded as a visionary step toward an innovative, efficient and trustworthy dispute resolution system, does not live up to those grand claims on closer scrutiny. The discussion shows that the CICC is in many respects insular and conservative when compared with the SICC. The distinctions between the two litigation frameworks may be explained …

International Recognition Of Singapore´S New Restructuring Framework, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the past years, Singapore has modernized its insolvency framework with the purpose of becoming an international hub for debt restructuring. One of the most significant reforms has affected the Singapore Scheme of Arrangement (SSoA). Under the new SSoA, debtors are allowed to remain in possession leading the restructuring process while enjoying the protection of an automatic moratorium with worldwide effects as well as a variety of tools imported from the US Chapter 11, including the availability of DIP financing, the restriction of ipso facto clauses, and a cross-class cramdown. Therefore, the new SSoA differs significantly from the typical scheme …

Singapore Company Law And The Economy: Reciprocal Influence Over 50 Years, Vincent Ooi, Cheng Han Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A strong reciprocal relationship has existed between Singapore Company Law (SCL) and the economy since Independence in 1965. Swift Parliamentary responses to economic events and successful implementation of Government policies has made it possible to clearly attribute cause and effect to statutory amendments and economic events in turn, proving the reciprocal relationship between the two. The first theme of this article seeks to explain the fundamental characteristics of SCL that have resulted in such an unusually strong reciprocal relationship: (1) Autochthonous nature of SCL; (2) Responsive nature of legislation; and (3) Government control at multiple levels of implementation. The second …

The Singapore International Commercial Court: The Future Of Litigation?, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Singapore International Commercial Court (‘SICC’) was launched on 5 January 2015, at the Opening of Legal Year held at the Singapore Supreme Court. What prompted the creation of SICC? How is the SICC model of litigation different from litigation in the Singapore High Court? What is the SICC’s track record and what does it tell us about its future? This article seeks to answer these questions at greater depth than existing literature. Importantly, it examines these questions from the angle of reimagining access of justice for litigants embroiled in international commercial disputes. It argues that the SICC’s enduring contribution …

Do Female Investors Support Female Entrepreneurs? An Empirical Analysis Of Angel Investor Behavior, Seth C. Oranburg, Mark Geiger

Law Faculty Scholarship

There is an ongoing debate on why female entrepreneurs face greater challenges than their male counterparts do in raising capital for their companies. Rooted in homophily – theory supporting the notion that women support women – is the argument that there are not enough female investors to support female-led firms. In the context of accredited investor-investee exchanges, we explored whether the gender of investor and the gender of investee’s CEO are related. Using a United States sample of 529 investments from fiscal year 2018, we found a significant association between the gender of the investor and the gender of the …

A Reformulated Test For Unconscionability, Vincent Ooi, Walter Yong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Apart from its interesting facts, this case, BOM v BOK [2018] SGCA 83, is significant for its rejection of a “broad” doctrine of unconscionability, the existence of which has been a matter of some debate in English law, and which has been accepted in Australia (see Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd v Amadio (1983) 151 C.L.R. 447; (1983) 46 A.L.R. 402). It also proposes a new test for the doctrine of unconscionability that is narrower than Amadio, based on the requirements inCresswell v Potter [1978] 1 W.L.R. 255. The test for unconscionability in English law has been a matter of …

Restitution, Man Yip

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The year 2018 produced only a handful of cases on the law of unjust enrichment and restitution. However, two are seminal cases and of note to the entire common law world: Ochroid Trading Ltd v Chua Siok Lui1 (“Ochroid”) and Turf Club Auto Emporium Pte Ltd v Yeo Boong Hua2 (“Turf Club”). Ochroid dealt with the hotly debated topic of the illegality defence against a claim in unjust enrichment for the recovery of money paid pursuant to an illegal contract. Rejecting the newly formulated Patel v Mirza3 approach under English law, the Court of Appeal in Ochroid set Singapore law …

Propuesta Para La Mejora Y Modernización De La Legislación Societaria En Ecuador [Proposal For The Improvement And Modernization Of Corporate Law In Ecuador] In Spanish, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Cesar Coronel Jones

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper seeks to provide some policy recommendations for the improvement and modernization of corporate law in Ecuador. These proposals have been based on the international literature and the particular features of Ecuador (that is, a country with many micro and small companies, state-owned enterprises, underdeveloped capital markets, unsophisticated courts, among other aspects). Secondly, since the legal, economic and institutional features of Ecuador can be found in other Latin American countries, this paper also seeks to be helpful to other countries in the region planning to reform their corporate laws. Finally, this paper seeks to contribute to the improvement and …

Apple V. Pepper: Rationalizing Antitrust’S Indirect Purchaser Rule, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

In Apple v. Pepper the Supreme Court held that consumers who allegedly paid too much for apps sold on Apple’s iStore could sue Apple for antitrust damages because they were “direct purchasers.” The decision reflects some bizarre complexities that have resulted from the Supreme Court’s 1977 decision in Illinois Brick, which held that only direct purchasers could sue for overcharge injuries under the federal antitrust laws. The indirect purchaser rule was problematic from the beginning. First, it was plainly inconsistent with the antitrust damages statute, which gives an action to “any person who shall be injured in his business …

Law School News: Welcome, Professor Nadiyah Humber 5-20-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Intermediated Securities Holding Systems Revisited: A View Through The Prism Of Transparency, Thomas Keijser, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This chapter explains several benefits of adopting transparent information technology systems for intermediated securities holding infrastructures. Such transparent systems could ameliorate various prevailing problems that confront existing tiered, intermediated holding systems, including those related to corporate actions (dividends, voting), claims against issuers and upper-tier intermediaries, loss sharing and set-off in insolvency proceedings, money laundering and terrorist financing, and privacy, data protection, and confidentiality. Moreover, transparent systems could improve the functions of intermediated holding systems even without changes in laws or regulations. They also could provide a catalyst for law reform and a roadmap for substantive content of reforms. Among potential …

Law School News: Introducing The Joint Jd/Mba Degree 03/07/2019, Edward Fitzpatrick

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Agency: Married Women Traders Of Nantucket, 1765-1865, Mary L. Heen

Law Faculty Publications

Before the enactment of separate property and contract rights for married women, generations of married women in seaport cities and towns conducted business as merchants, traders and shopkeepers. The first part of this article shows how private law facilitated their business activities through traditional agency law, the use of powers of attorney, trade accounts and family business networks. These arrangements, largely hidden from public view in family papers, letters, and diaries, permitted married women to enter into contracts, to buy and sell property, and to appear in court. Private law, like equity, thus provided a more flexible alternative to the …

Advanced Artificial Intelligence And Contract, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

The aim of this article is to inquire whether contract law can operate in a state of affairs in which artificial general intelligence (AGI) exists and has the cognitive abilities to interact with humans to exchange promises or otherwise engage in the sorts of exchanges typically governed by contract law. AGI is a long way off but its emergence may be sudden and come in the lifetimes of some people alive today. How might contract law adapt to a situation in which at least one of the contract parties could, from the standpoint of capacity to engage in promising and …

Global Standards For Securities Holding Infrastructures: A Soft Law/Fintech Model For Reform, Charles W. Mooney Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

Intermediaries such as stockbrokers and banks are ubiquitous in global securities markets, playing essential roles in markets, including trading, settling trades, and post-settlement holding of securities. This essay focuses in particular on the roles of intermediaries in securities holding systems. It proposes an IOSCO-led “soft-law-to-hard-law” approach to the development of Global Standards for reforms to these holding systems. States would be expected to adopt “hard law” reforms through statutory and regulatory adjustments to securities holding systems. The reforms would embrace not only important standards of a functional and regulatory nature, but also holistic standards relating to the private law, insolvency …

The Human Element: The Under-Theorized And Underutilized Component Vital To Fostering Blockchain Development, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

This Article constitutes a lightly edited transcription of Joshua Fairfield's oral remarks at the April 6, 2018 Cleveland State Law Review Symposium on Blockchain Law and Technology.

The author posits that there is a tendency to think that technology will emerge triumphant in resolving physical problems, including banking and transactional recording; that there is sort of a "tech-bro utopianism," epitomized by Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that what we need is a technological, not a human, solution. He states that one major problem is that social technologists, psychologists, historians, linguists, and cultural anthropologists are not on the development teams that are building …

Regulatory Takings And The Constitutionality Of Commercial Rent Regulation In New York City, Henry Topper

Cornell Law Library Prize for Exemplary Student Research Papers

In recent years, the plight of small businesses in New York City has become a contentious topic. Although the city and its current mayoral administration share a long-standing commitment to affordable housing, the city’s small businesses—an integral and defining feature of the urban landscape—have suffered immensely. In the past decade, local establishments have largely given way to a homogeneous landscape of empty storefronts and national chain stores.The loss of local busi- ness occurs with such staggering frequency that there is an entire thriving blog subculture documenting their “vanishing” and the Center for an Urban Future publishes an annual report on …

Fraud, Letters Of Credit, And The Uniform Commercial Code: It Is Time To Untether The Independence Principle, Richard Flint

Faculty Articles

The purpose of this Article is to evaluate the efficacy of the fraud exception to the independence principle in letters of credit law in the case of both commercial and standby letters of credit. In doing so, a primary focus will be to identify which of the various parties to a letter of credit transaction the present fraud exception "protects" and to evaluate the policy justifications for why these persons are viewed by the law to be eligible recipients of protection.

Will Tenure Voting Give Corporate Managers Lifetime Tenure?, Paul H. Edelman, Randall S. Thomas, Wei Jiang

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Dual-class voting systems have been widely employed in recent initial public offerings by large tech companies, but have been roundly condemned by institutional investors and the S&P 500. As an alternative, commentators have proposed adoption of tenure voting systems, where investor voting rights increase with the length of time that they hold shares. In furtherance of this proposal, some Silicon Valley investors have requested that the SEC permit the creation of a new stock exchange where all of the companies will be required to use tenure voting systems.

Is tenure voting a better choice than dual-class stock for both corporate …

Understanding The (Ir)Relevance Of Shareholder Votes On M&A Deals, Randall S. Thomas, James D. Cox, Tomas J. Mondino

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Has corporate law and its bundles of fiduciary obligations become irrelevant? Over the last thirty years, the American public corporation has undergone a profound metamorphosis, transforming itself from a business with dispersed ownership to one whose ownership is highly concentrated in the hands of sophisticated financial institutions. Corporate law has not been immutable to these changes so that current doctrine now accords to a shareholder vote two effects: first, the vote satisfies a statutory mandate that shareholders approve a deal, and second and significantly, the vote insulates the transaction and its actors from any claim of misconduct incident the approved …