Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Business Decisions By The New Board: Behavioral Science And Corporate Law, Robert J. Haft

Michigan Law Review

This Article's thesis is that, by reason of its recently secured independence from management domination, the boards of directors of large American corporations are now in a unique position to make business decisions of the highest quality, and that corporate law should respond to this potential appropriately. On the basis of findings in the behavioral sciences, this Article urges a limited rethinking of the role of the chief executive and the board of directors before the model of directors as "monitors" of the chief executive's performance is frozen in place. Already armed with information supposedly received as monitors, the independent …

"No Soul To Damn: No Body To Kick": An Unscandalized Inquiry Into The Problem Of Corporate Punishment, John C. Coffee Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Because this Article's arguments are interwoven, a preliminary roadmap seems advisable. First, Section I will examine three perspectives on corporate punishment and will develop several concepts in terms of which corporate penalties should be evaluated. Although this analysis will suggest several barriers to effective corporate deterrence, Section II will explain why a sensible approach to corporate misbehavior still must punish the firm as well as the individual decision- maker. Section III will then evaluate three proposed approaches: (1) the "equity fine,'' (2) the use of adverse publicity, and (3) the fuller integration of public and private enforcement. In addition, it …

Corporate Governance--A Moving Target, Robert L. Knauss

Michigan Law Review

This Essay elaborates on Professor Conard's sensible suggestion with the hope that others will take it to heart. First, the Essay discusses the unique governance problems raised by what I call quasipublicly traded corporations. These smaller corporations, whose shares are not actively traded, have been largely neglected in most discussions of corporate governance. The neglect is ironic since most state corporation statutes were originally designed with the quasipublicly traded corporation in mind. Second, the Essay turns to a problem of corporate governance common to all corporations - the proper role of directors - and shows that appropriate standards may vary …

Abandoning Bankruptcy Law's "Identity Of Interest" Exception, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Section I of this Note discusses the goals and weaknesses of the identity of interest exception; Section II explains the advantages of consolidation and novation; and the final Section suggests a way to separate cases where novation is appropriate from those where consolidation is the preferred remedy.

Survival Of Rights Of Action After Corporate Merger, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Once a corporation ceases to exist, most courts permit neither primary nor derivative suits to be brought in its name. If a merger precipitates that corporate demise, courts usually hold that standing to sue, like other assets of the "merged" corporation, passes to the surviving corporation. This Note ponders the merit of that rule of passage.

Section I categorizes the cases defining the rule of passage. Some courts have steadfastly adhered to the rule and denied standing to the merged corporation's shareholders. Other courts, fearing that the rule would preclude meritorious actions, have created exceptions allowing these shareholders to sue …

A Note On Corporate America, Simon M. Lorne

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Attack on Corporate America: The Corporate Issues Sourcebook edited by M. Bruce Johnson

Multinationals Revisited, John M. Niehuss

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Storm over the Multinationals--The Real Issues by Raymond Vernon

Restructuring The Corporate Board Of Directors: Fond Hope--Faint Promise?, Lewis D. Solomon

Michigan Law Review

Reforms, then, have been instituted, and an extensive literature on corporate reform has developed. It is time that we seriously examine the reforms and the literature to assess the accomplishments and possibilities of the corporate board of directors. This Article is a first step in that direction.

The Article begins by investigating the reasons for the impotence of corporate boards. It then examines two models of reformed boards and finds both models badly flawed. The Article proceeds to case studies of three corporations-Mattel, Inc., Northrop Corp., and Lockheed Corp.-which under court· order have attempted to reform their boards by increasing …

Reflections On Public Interest Directors, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

The "public interest director" may not yet be an idea whose time has come, but it is an idea that can no longer be ignored. The time has come for responsible lawyers and other opinion leaders to know why, and to what extent, they favor or oppose it.

The Impact If Howard Johnson On The Labor Obligations Of Successor Employer, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note assesses the impact of Howard Johnson on the labor-law obligations of successor employers. Part I analyzes the prior case law; part II critiques the reasoning of the Howard Johnson opinion; part III considers the merits of a new approach to the successorship problem, suggested in a footnote in Howard Johnson.

Basic Corporate Taxation, Stefan F. Tucker

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Basic Corporate Taxation, 2d Ed. by Douglas A. Kahn

United States V. Falstaff Brewing Corporation: Potential Competition Re-Examined, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note will examine and criticize the perceived potential competition doctrine suggested by the Court. Then, it will discuss the questions raised in the concurrences concerning the use of subjective evidence and the role of incipient competitive effects. Finally, an alternative approach that focuses on the acquisition of or the possibility of acquiring small, "toehold" firms will be proposed.

The Rising Tide Of Reverse Flow: Would A Legislative Breakwater Violate U.S. Treaty Commitments?, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Up to the present the United States has imposed few restrictions on foreign direct investment. It has never enacted any limitations as sweeping as those proposed by the Dent-Gaydos bill. This Note will briefly discuss the need for such restrictions and then examine the extent to which a reversal in policy is permitted by existing U.S. treaty obligations.

Tender Offers For Corporate Control, Martin Lipton

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Tender Offers for Corporate Control by Edward Ross Aranow and Herbert A. Einhorn

The Structure Of The Private Multinational Enterprise, Yitzhak Hadari

Michigan Law Review

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, society has experienced the persistent tendency of business organizations to expand. Businesses evolved from the rural workshop to the urban factory; from the municipal firm to the regional firm and then to the national enterprise. More recently, enterprises have expanded even further, from national firms with small export outlets to huge multinational enterprises (MNEs) embracing business operations all over the globe coordinated under a single management. Yet, along with its beneficial results for the peoples of the world, each new economic era brings with it new problems as well.

The conflict between the …

An Overview Of The Laws Of Corporations, Alfred F. Conard

Michigan Law Review

During the twentieth century, legislatures found it necessary to enact great masses of additional legislation to deal with the special problems of corporations. People who worked with the entire group of relevant laws were known as "corporation lawyers." But, like Londoners, they continued to regard as "corporation laws" only those few that covered the same points embraced by the laws of the Victorian era. The others carried distinct sobriquets.

This usage leads to a confusion in speaking about the "laws of corporations," since they are so much broader than "corporation laws." It would be hard, though, for a reader to …

Contract Rights And The Successor Employer: The Impact Of Burns Security, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note will only briefly discuss the implications of Burns for NLRB proceedings. Instead, the focus will be on the impact of Burns on actions to compel arbitration under section 301. Is the rationale of Burns inconsistent with the rule established in Wiley for section 301 actions? If it does not undermine Wiley, does Burns indicate when employers will be deemed successors in future actions under section 301 to compel arbitration? Before examining these questions, however, it is necessary to consider the decisions of Wiley and Burns.