Law Commons^™

A Primer On Option Valuation In Restructuring, Caroline Boone, Anthony Casey

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

The restructuring of a financially distressed but viable business firm creates an unusual and complex valuation problem. The distressed business has taken on too much debt and must adjust its capital structure to preserve value. The goal of the process is to emerge with a new capital structure that allows the firm to raise funds for future projects. But that requires a two-pronged valuation. On the one hand, the old claims on the firm must be reconciled to determine who is owed what. On the other hand, the value available to pay those claims derives from the firm’s prospects at …

Cleansing Animus: The Path Through Arlington Heights, William Araiza

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Splitting The Baby, Irene M. Ten Cate

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

In Memorial - Dorothy Erstling Cukier, Lead Article Editor

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Judicial Deference To Agency Action Based On Ai, Cade Mallett

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Playing God In The 21st Century: How The Push For Human Embryonic Germline Gene Editing Sidelines Individual And Generational Autonomy, Anna E. Melo

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Every four and a half minutes a child with a genetic birth defect is born in the United States. For some, these conditions are treatable and manageable, but sadly for others, they are a death sentence. Congenital malformations and chromosomal abnormalities are the leading cause of infant mortality. CRISPR-Cas9 presents hope for the future, a liberation from the heritable genetic shackles that a child would otherwise be trapped in. With such optimism for future applications of germline gene editing, there are also great concerns with what national and global limitations and auditing must be in place to permit “genetic hedging.” …

One Small Step On Tiktok, One (Possibly) Giant Leap For The Dance Community: How Tiktok Spearheaded A Change In The Seemingly Stagnant Field Of Copyright Law, Sydney L. Solferino

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Forensic Microbiome Evidence: Fourth Amendment Applications And Court Acceptance, Trason Lasley

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

The Tiktok Algorithm Is Good, But Is It Too Good? Exploring The Responsibility Of Artificial Intelligence Systems Reinforcing Harmful Ideas On Users, Julianne Gabor

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

One Size Does Not Fit All: How The California Privacy Rights Act Will Not Improve Employee Data Collection And Privacy Rights, Kayla N. Bushey

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Ai Risk Assessment Tools Amid The War On Drugs: Productive Or Counterproductive?, Matin Pedram

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

The War on Drugs refers to a situation in which all the processes of production, distribution, and consumption of all illegal drugs are prohibited. This ambitious goal has imposed considerable costs on societies. The war has weaponized harsher punishments such as life imprisonment, execution, and long-term incarceration against drug offenders. Nonviolent offenders, those who possessed illegal drugs, have been easy targets for governments to show that the war is still ongoing. Although some countries became pioneers in changing the laws to end this costly war, Iran and the United States have made their stance on the drug issue clear, and …

Moving Away From Masking Pain: A Need For Modernization In Pain Management, Tori Collins

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Policy Concern For Disabled Individuals With Service Dogs, Beth Carmain

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Domestic Violence And Access To Justice Within The Family Law And Intersecting Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan, Wanda Wiegers, Janet Mosher, Wendy Chan, Michaela Keet

Canadian Journal of Family Law

The articles in this collection explore the access to justice issues that arise for survivors of domestic violence in their encounters with Canada’s family law system. While family law and family dispute resolution processes are the central focus of the articles, three contributions also address family law's intersections with other legal domains (civil restraining orders, child welfare, and immigration). Common across the contributions is a desire to carefully interrogate the potential of law and legal processes to enhance—or conversely to undermine—the safety and well-being of survivors and their children.

Preventive Justice? Domestic Violence Protection Orders And Their Intersections With Family And Other Laws And Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Civil protection order legislation is a distinctive response to domestic violence with its focus on immediate safety and access to justice. Although the legislation was motivated by the need to broaden protective remedies for domestic violence and make them more accessible, similar remedies continue to exist and be utilized in the family law arena—for example, exclusive possession orders for the family home and restraining orders related to family disputes. Some jurisdictions also allow civil protection orders to contain conditions relevant to family law disputes, such as interim parenting orders. Intersections, overlaps and potential conflicts also exist between civil protection order …

Domestic Violence, Precarious Immigration Status, And The Complex Interplay Of Family Law And Immigration Law, Janet Mosher

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Survivors of domestic violence must frequently navigate multiple legal processes, as well as the various administrative systems that provide crucial supports and resources. For women with precarious immigration status, navigation is made all the more challenging not only because immigration and/or refugee law processes are added to the array of legal domains to be navigated, but because their access to supports and resources is both restrictive and in flux, shifting along with the changes in their immigration status.

Drawing from interviews with experienced lawyers and case law searches, I explore many of the intersections between family law and immigration law …

Bill C-92: A Catalyst For Change In The Ycja, René Allain

Canadian Journal of Family Law

This paper examines Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families (2019) (C-92), and how some of its principles should inform a redrafting of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002) (YCJA or the Act) to address the over-incarceration of Indigenous youth. Erasing the effects of centuries of racist and genocidal policies is a herculean process that will take several generations. Disrupting this status quo must begin by allowing children an opportunity to learn and prosper within their communities. Although trite, the maxim “children are our future” holds particularly true for Indigenous Nations in Canada.

Defeasible Semantics For L4, Guido Governatori, Meng Weng (Huang Mingrong) Wong

Centre for Computational Law (2022-2025)

The importance of defeasibility for legal reasoning has been investigated for a long time (see among other [10, 3, 11]). This notion mostly concerns the issue that textual provisions of (legal) norms typically provide prima facie conditions for their applicability, but to understand a norm in full, we have to evaluate the norms in the context in which the norm is used and to see if other norms prevent it either to apply or to be effective. In other words, when evaluating norms, we must account for possible (prima facie) conflicts and exceptions. Indeed, in general, norms first provide the …

Front Matter

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.

Challenging Myths And Stereotypes In Domestic Violence Cases, Jennifer Koshan

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Survivors of domestic violence, who are disproportionately women, face numerous myths and stereotypes about the veracity, nature, and extent of violence they and their children experience. In legal disputes, they encounter allegations that they have lied about or exaggerated domestic violence out of vengeance, jealousy, or to gain an advantage in family law proceedings; that their partners are victims too; that abuse ends at separation or is irrelevant unless it is physical; and that it has no impact on children or only matters if it does. Although scholars and activists have revealed how these allegations are tainted by false and …

“This Isn’T Justice”: Abused Women Navigate Family Law In Greater Vancouver, Wendy Chan, Rebecca Lennox

Canadian Journal of Family Law

With the implementation of the Family Law Act in 2013, the family legal system in British Columbia saw a series of progressive reforms. These include the recognition of emotional, psychological, and financial control as family violence, a new protection order process to replace the limited restraining orders formerly available to abuse victims, a mandate that courts consider how exposure to family violence impacts children, and minimum mandatory training standards for family dispute resolution professionals. While there has been a great deal of legal commentary on these new provisions, there is a paucity of scholarly research documenting the experiences of frontline …

Mediator Discretion In Cases Involving Intimate Partner Violence, Michaela Keet, Jeff Edgar

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Mediation is a centerpiece in the ‘agreement culture’ around family law litigation. It is recognized by the courts as offering inherent protections to deal with challenging cases such as those involving intimate partner violence. To learn more about how mediators invoke and view the process’s protections, we conducted a series of interviews with senior mediators, trainers, and policymakers in the field. This article synthesizes current views within the mediation field about how to identify and screen for IPV, and implications for process management. At the heart of these interviews was the theme of mediator discretion: mediators describe and value discretion …

The Intersection Of Child Protection And Family Law Systems In Cases Of Domestic Violence, Wanda Wiegers

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Both the child protection and the family law systems are intended to promote the best interests of children, and both can profoundly affect the relationships between children and their parents or caregivers. Over the past two decades, both systems have also accorded more weight in the assessment of best interests to how exposure to domestic violence can harm or place children at risk. However, these systems have evolved differently, are governed by different statutes, and are administered in different ways. Child protection proceedings purport to have primarily a protective function and invariably involve a public agency, while family law proceedings, …

Front Matter

Canadian Journal of Family Law

No abstract provided.

If More Mormons Attended University, Would Canada Be Okay With Polygamy? Unpacking Literatures Of Social Exclusion In Canada’S Continued Criminalization Of Polygamy, Maxime D. Matthew

Canadian Journal of Family Law

In 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court (BCSC) held it was constitutional to criminalize polygamy, framing the issue as principally about harm. I argue the Reference re: Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada furthers a literature of social exclusion, reifying an oversimplified binary: polygamy is harmful, polyamory is moral. Using narrative theory, I explore how these mutually constituted opposites build off each other. Polygamist Mormons are often denied whiteness, seen as an unpatriotic and racialized Other. Mormon women are othered by their attire and, despite still falling under section 293, denied agency. In contrast, the court views …

La Violence Conjugale, Familiale Et Sexuelle Dans La Réforme Du Droit De La Famille Québécois : État Des Lieux Et Solutions, Suzanne Zaccour

Canadian Journal of Family Law

Le projet de loi n^o 2, adopté en juin 2022, a prévu quelques mesures pour améliorer la réponse du système judiciaire à la violence conjugale et familiale. Or, ces mesures sont insuffisantes. Cet article analyse les nouveaux changements législatifs et présente les transformations qui manquent toujours à l’appel pour une véritable protection des mères et des enfants victimes de violence. Les solutions proposées sont les suivantes :

1) Faciliter l’identification des violences conjugales et familiales en interdisant aux tribunaux de tirer des inférences négatives quant à la capacité parentale des mères qui rapportent une situation de violence et en …

The Powerful Actors Of The Criminal Justice System: Understanding Prosecutorial Discretion From The Viewpoint Of Prosecutors. A Public Administrator's Perspective, Ja'von Long

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Prosecutors are one of the most powerful actors in the American criminal justice system, yet there is a lack of qualitative research related to the topic. There is also a lack of policy reform that has affected prosecutors in the way that it has other actors of the system such as police officers and judges. The research seeks to increase understanding of how prosecutors view the discretion and power prosecutors hold and seeks to provide more information on the institutional and organizational pressures that can affect prosecutors and their decision-making process. The study further explores how cognitive biases along with …

A Critique Of The American Law Institute’S Draft Restatement Of The Corporate Objectiv, Stephen M. Bainbridge

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

The American Law Institute (ALI) is currently working on a Restatement of the Law of Corporate Governance (Restatement). At the ALI’s May 2022 annual meeting, the membership approved, inter alia, § 2.01, which purports to restate the objective of the corporation. Section 2.01 differentiates between what the drafters refer to as common law jurisdictions and stakeholder jurisdictions. The latter are those states that have adopted a constituency statute (a.k.a. a non-shareholder constituency statute).

The drafters assert that, in common law jurisdictions, the corporate objective is to “enhance the economic value of the corporation, within the boundaries of the law . …

Unplugging Heartbeat Trades And Reforming The Taxation Of Etfs, Jeffrey M. Colon

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

The much-touted tax efficiency of equity exchange traded funds (ETFs) has historically been built upon portfolios that track indices with low turnover and the tax exemption for in-kind distributions of appreciated property.

This rule permits ETFs to distribute appreciated shares tax-free to redeeming authorized participants (APs) and reduce a fund’s future capital gains. ETFs and APs, working together, exploit this rule in so-called heartbeat trades in which an ETF distributes shares of a specific company or companies to a redeeming AP, instead of a pro rata basket of the ETF’s portfolio. The distributed securities are appreciated shares of companies that …

The (Mis)Uses Of The S&P 500, Adriana Z. Robertson

The University of Chicago Business Law Review

The S&P 500 is widely used to (i) direct capital through “passive” investing, (ii) benchmark investment portfolios, and (iii) evaluate firm performance. The securities regulatory regime’s approach to each of these uses is fundamentally flawed. I show that the index is neither neutral nor constant: it represents substantial amounts of discretionary decision-making and is simply one particular large-cap portfolio. I then argue that an “S&P 500 fund” is not meaningfully passive, the mutual fund prospectus benchmark requirement is flawed, and the requirement that index constituents compare their performance to that of the index is nonsensical. I propose regulatory changes to …