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Full-Text Articles in Law

Strict Liability For Gatekeepers: A Reply To Professor Coffee, Frank Partnoy Oct 2004

Strict Liability For Gatekeepers: A Reply To Professor Coffee, Frank Partnoy

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

This article responds to a proposal by Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. for a modified form of strict liability for gatekeepers. Professor Coffee’s proposal would convert gatekeepers into insurers, but cap their insurance obligations based on a multiple of the highest annual revenues the gatekeepers recently had received from their wrongdoing clients. My proposal, advanced in 2001, would allow gatekeepers to contract for a percentage of issuer damages, after settlement or judgment, subject to a legislatively-imposed floor. This article compares the proposals and concludes that a contractual system based on a percentage of the issuer’s liability would be preferable to …


Encumbered Shares, Shaun Martin, Frank Partnoy Oct 2004

Encumbered Shares, Shaun Martin, Frank Partnoy

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

The fundamental assumptions in the law and economics literature about shareholder voting and the one-share/one-vote rule are flawed. The classic view is that share ownership is necessary and sufficient to create voting rights and that such rights should be directly proportional to share ownership. We demonstrate that this assumption is unfounded, both for shares that are “economically encumbered” (held by shareholders who are not pure residual claimants; e.g., a shareholder who owns one share and is also short one or more shares) as well as shares that are “legally encumbered” (held or associated with more than one shareholder; e.g., shares …


Estate Tax Repeal And The Budget Process, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch Oct 2004

Estate Tax Repeal And The Budget Process, Karen C. Burke, Grayson M.P. Mccouch

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

This article examines the Bush Administration’s proposal, as part of its proposed fiscal year 2005 budget, to extend permanently the repeal of the federal estate tax. The article considers the budgetary impact of permanent estate tax repeal and discusses procedural impediments to use of the reconciliation process for permanent tax cuts. The article also notes the possibility of a durable compromise solution involving retention of the estate tax with lower rates and a higher exemption.


Does The Tax Law Discriminate Against The Majority Of American Children: The Downside Of Our Progressive Rate Structure And Unbalanced Incentives For Higher Education?, Lester B. Snyder Oct 2004

Does The Tax Law Discriminate Against The Majority Of American Children: The Downside Of Our Progressive Rate Structure And Unbalanced Incentives For Higher Education?, Lester B. Snyder

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

Our graduate income tax structure provides an incentive to shift income to lower-bracket family members. However, some parents have much more latitude to shift income to their children than do others. Income derived from services and private business-by far the majority of American income-is less favored than income derived from publicly traded securities. The rationale given for this discrimination is that parents in services or private business, as opposed to those in securities, do not actually part with control of their property. This article explores these tax broader (yet subtle) tax benefits and their impact on the majority of children …


Water Conservation Plan, Rocky Boy / North Central Montana Regional Water System (2004), Hkm Engineering Sep 2004

Water Conservation Plan, Rocky Boy / North Central Montana Regional Water System (2004), Hkm Engineering

Native American Water Rights Settlement Project

Tribal Water Code: Water Conservation Plan, Rocky Boy / North Central Montana Regional Water System (Sep. 2004). Parties: Chippewa-Cree Tribe and NCM-RWS. The Rocky Boy/North Central Montana Regional Water System Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-331) authorized construction of the Rocky Boy/North Central Montana Regional Water System in north-central Montana. To meet the requirements of the Act, the Chippewa Cree Tribe and the North Central Montana Regional Water Authority developed and submitted a water conservation plan to Reclamation. The purpose of this water conservation plan is to ensure that users of water from the core system, non-core system and the …


Lawyers, Gats, And The Wto Accountancy Disciplines: The History Of The Wto's Consultation, The Iba Gats Forum And The September 2003 Iba Resolutions, Laurel S. Terry Apr 2004

Lawyers, Gats, And The Wto Accountancy Disciplines: The History Of The Wto's Consultation, The Iba Gats Forum And The September 2003 Iba Resolutions, Laurel S. Terry

Faculty Scholarly Works

The article addresses issues related to legal services and the General Agreement on Trade in Services or GATS. The article begins by focusing on "Track #2" of the GATS and the obligation under GATS Article VI:4 to develop "any necessary disciplines." In 1998, WTO Members implemented GATS Article VI:4 by adopting "Disciplines" that apply to the accoutnancy sector. WTO Members currently are in the process of deciding whether to extend the WTO Accountancy Disciplines, S/L/64, to other service sectors, including legal services. In December 2002, the WTO sent the International Bar Association (IBA) and other non-governmental organizations a "consultation letter" …


Rules, Principles, And The Accounting Crisis In The United States, William W. Bratton Jan 2004

Rules, Principles, And The Accounting Crisis In The United States, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Securities Exchange Commission move too quickly ·when they prod the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the standard setter for US GAAP, to move immediately to a principles-based system. Priorities respecting reform of corporate reporting in the US need to be ordered more carefully. Incentive problems impairing audit performance should be solved first through institutional reform insulating the audit from the negative impact of rent-seeking and solving adverse selection problems otherwise affecting audit practice. So long as auditor independence and management incentives respecting accounting treatments remain suspect. the US reporting system holds out no actor plausibly positioned …


Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Skilling; How Enron's Public Image Morphed From The Most Innovative Company In The Fortune 500 To The Most Notorious Company Ever, Nancy B. Rapoport, Jeffrey D. Van Niel Jan 2004

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Skilling; How Enron's Public Image Morphed From The Most Innovative Company In The Fortune 500 To The Most Notorious Company Ever, Nancy B. Rapoport, Jeffrey D. Van Niel

Scholarly Works

In this article, we explore the hypothesis that Enron's financial releases were so complex and misleading that no one could have predicted its rapid downfall, and we find that, contrary to our hypothesis, a number of people were contradicting Enron's own rosy view of itself long before the middle of 2001. We then talk about the ways in which Enron became part of the public consciousness, far beyond what it had done merely as a business entity.


Rules, Principles, And The Accounting Crisis In The United States, William W. Bratton Jan 2004

Rules, Principles, And The Accounting Crisis In The United States, William W. Bratton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Securities Exchange Commission move too quickly when they prod the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the standard setter for US GAAP, to move immediately to a principles-based system. Priorities respecting reform of corporate reporting in the US need to be ordered more carefully. Incentive problems impairing audit performance should be solved first through institutional reform insulating the audit from the negative impact of rent-seeking and solving adverse selection problems otherwise affecting audit practice. So long as auditor independence and management incentives respecting accounting treatments remain suspect, the US reporting system holds out no actor plausibly positioned …