Law Commons^™

The Uptick Rule Of Short Sale Regulation: Can It Alleviate Downward Price Pressure From Negative Earnings Shocks?, Lin (Lynn) Bai

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This paper empirically examines the effect of the uptick rule (including the bid test applicable to NASDAQ stocks) of short sale regulations on stock prices and short selling activities immediately after negative earnings surprises that occurred during the period of May to November 2005. It compares price paths and short selling activities of stocks restricted by the uptick rule with stocks that were exempted from the rule as a result of the SEC's Pilot Program. The study has not found any evidence that prices of stocks subject to the rule declined at a slower speed than prices of exempted stocks …

Should States Have Greater Standing Rights Than Ordinary Citizens?: Massachusetts V. Epa's New Standing Test For States, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In Massachusetts v. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007), the Supreme Court held that carbon dioxide (CO²) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are air pollutants within the meaning of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Although its decision on the merits is important, the Court's conclusion that Massachusetts had standing to file suit because states are entitled to more lenient standing criteria may have a greater impact in the long-term on legal doctrine. In Massachusetts, the Supreme Court for the first time clearly gave greater standing rights to states than ordinary citizens. The Court, however, failed to explain to what extent …

Fair Circumvention, Timothy K. Armstrong

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Judicial decisions construing the key liability provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. - 1201, cluster around two incompatible poles. One set of decisions construes the DMCA's liability provisions broadly, emphasizing the need to prevent possible copyright infringement and limit the public availability of tools that may be used to infringe. Other cases construe the same language narrowly, stressing the avoidance of anticompetitive market distortions. Both sets of decisions insist that their interpretation is commanded by the literal text of the DMCA. A closer look, however, reveals that both sides have overstated the support they may plausibly …

The First (Black) Lady, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Part I examines the role of First Lady, which has been undertheorized in legal scholarship, and how it promotes privileged white femininity, and in so doing, upholds patriarchy. Part II builds upon that discussion, explaining that the gender and racial norms that contribute to the traditional First Lady trope exemplify the intertwined nature of racism and sexism, which have been used to justify Black subordination. This section also examines how African Americans have embraced gender conformance as a way of attaining acceptance and status within the existing social order, specifically through the "Black lady" construct, which the campaign invoked to …

The Heart Of The Game: Putting Race And Educational Equity At The Center Of Title Ix, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This article examines how race and educational equity issues shape women's sports experiences.

The Disappearing Dilemma: Why Agency Principles Should Now Take Center Stage In Retaliation Cases, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad v. White, the Supreme Court soundly rejected the idea that the plaintiff must establish that conduct rose to the level of an adverse employment action to constitute retaliation under Title VII. This Article posits that, in an effort to square Burlington with other Title VII agency jurisprudence, the courts will be required to re-import the concept of tangible employment action into decisions regarding whether an employer is vicariously liable for actions committed by supervisors.

While the lower courts appear to recognize that agency issues come into play when retaliation is conducted by co-workers, …

Complying With Export Laws Without Importing Discrimination Liability: At Attempt To Integrate Employment Discrimination Laws And The Deemed Export Rules, Sandra F. Sperino

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

The federal deemed export rules prohibit certain individuals from receiving any information about certain technologies without the required license, even if those individuals are otherwise authorized to work within the United States. In other words, employers who deal with technology or software subject to export control may be considered to be illegally exporting such technology or software, simply by allowing certain foreign nationals to work with or gain information about the restricted items.

This article will attempt two moderately simple tasks and one more difficult. The first task is to identify the tensions that exist between the deemed export rules …

Reconstructions: Historical Consciousness And Critical Transformation, Emily Houh, Kristin (Brandser) Kalsem, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Introduction to the first volume of the Freedom Center Journal (FCJ).

Should The Sec Be A Collection Agency For Defrauded Investors?, Barbara Black

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

One of the important functions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("the SEC") is enforcing the securities laws and punishing violators. Collecting damages for defrauded investors was not, historically, an important part of the agency's mission; rather that was the function of private securities fraud class actions. Section 308 (the "Fair Fund provision") of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 gives the SEC a more prominent role in compensating investors and allows the agency, in some circumstances, to distribute civil penalties to defrauded investors. The SEC has established Fair Funds in a number of high-profile cases and has taken pride …

Working Toward Fair Treatment For Retail Investors, Barbara Black

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Twenty years ago, in Shearson/American Express, Inc. v. McMahon, the Supreme Court held that brokerage firms could require their customers to arbitrate all their disputes in industry-sponsored fora - a decision that had great significance for the law of arbitration as well as securities regulation. In 1996, a blue-ribbon task force released its report, assessing the securities arbitration process at National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD), the principal securities arbitration forum, and the report led to several symposia on the topic coinciding with the tenth anniversary of McMahon. Since then, arbitration scholars and practitioners have intensified the debate over …

The Empirical Judiciary, A. Christopher Bryant

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This essay reviews David L. Faigman’s Constitutional Fictions: A Unified Theory of Constitutional Facts (Oxford U.P. 2008). Constitutional Fictions is a highly original book that promises to (and should) have an enormous impact on both constitutional law scholarship and practice. The book focuses on the methods, or lack thereof, that the Court employs in receiving evidence and resolving disagreements about questions of fact in constitutional cases. In doing so, the book does the legal profession an invaluable service by identifying and articulating the many frequently unspoken questions that arise in the context of judicial consideration and resolution of legislative facts …

Cracking The Egg: Which Came First -- Stigma Or Affirmative Action?, Emily Houh, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Mary Campbell

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This Article examines the strength of arguments concerning the causal connection between racial stigma and affirmative action. In so doing, this Article reports and analyzes the results of a survey on internal stigma (feelings of dependency, inadequacy, or guilt) and external stigma (the burden of others' resentment or doubt about one's qualifications) for the Class of 2009 at seven public law schools, four of which employed race-based policies when the Class of 2009 was admitted and three of which did not use such policies at that time. Specifically, this Article examines and presents survey findings of 1) minimal, if any, …

Competition And Control In International Adjudication, Jacob Katz Cogan

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

States are increasingly delegating or transferring powers to international organizations, and international organizations are increasingly pushing the limits of the powers conferred upon them. This expansion of powers embraces all areas of international authority-particularly lawmaking and adjudication. Recognizing that international organizations have gained this greater role, scholars have begun to think more deeply about the legitimacy, accountability, and good governance of international organizations, and States (as well as non-State entities, such as the European Union and nongovernmental organizations), knowing what is at stake, have become more forthright in seeking a seat at the table.

Part I of this paper explains …

There Are Plaintiffs And...There Are Plaintiffs: An Empirical Analysis Of Securities Class Action Settlements, James D. Cox, Randall S. Thomas, Lin (Lynn) Bai

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

In this paper, we examine the impact of the PSLRA and more particularly the impact the type of lead plaintiff on the size of settlements in securities fraud class actions. We provide insight into whether the type of plaintiff that heads the class action impacts the overall outcome of the case. Furthermore, we explore possible indicia that may explain why some suits settle for extremely small sums - small relative to the "provable losses" suffered by the class, small relative to the asset size of the defendant-company, and small relative to other settlements in our sample. This evidence bears heavily …