Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Corporate Norms And Contemporary Law Firm Practice, Milton C. Regan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Larry Mitchell's book describes the movement toward share price maximization by corporate managers. More intensive market competition both domestically and abroad has led managers to believe that their corporations have little choice but to focus on short-term profits. This practice leads to greater instability for corporate workers and efforts to externalize other costs on third parties. It also intensifies the erosion of "local" cultural practices that are seen as impediments to profit maximization, whether they are associated with countries abroad, communities in the United States, or within the corporation itself. In this process, the norms of the market gain increasing …

Never Trust A Corporation, William W. Bratton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

I would like to start by noting multitudinous objections to assertions made in Larry Mitchell's Corporate Irresponsibility: America's Newest Export. But I waive these points for purposes of this Symposium. I would prefer to take the occasion to celebrate the book. So I will make two points on the subject of corporate social responsibility on which the book and I stand in complete accord.

The Organizational Psychology Of Hyper-Competition: Corporate Irresponsibility And The Lessons Of Enron, Donald C. Langevoort

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

What I want to do here is first explain my fears and then explore the Enron story from the standpoint of both social psychology and organizational behavior. My sense going in, at least, is that the social forces and selfish norms that emerge fairly naturally in highly competitive settings such as these dominate as behavioral influences over anything but high-powered legal controls. The kind of firm that I want to concentrate on is the "new economy" sort that requires a high rate of creative productivity from a large number of key managers and employees. Thus, I will put to the …

An Arm's Length Struggle: To Include Or Not To Include Stock Options In Cost Sharing Arrangements And Non-Integral Service Agreements, Kenneth Blackburn

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deal Protection Provisions In The Last Period Of Play , Sean J. Griffith

Faculty Scholarship

The ability to protect mergers is important to both targets and acquirors. A series of recent Chancery Court decisions, however, challenges the validity of deal protection provisions in merger agreements and threatens the stability of Delaware's established change of control paradigm. This article argues that last period concerns animate the Chancery Court's decisions and finds, in the last period problem, a theoretical principle capable of harmonizing these decisions with existing jurisprudence and providing a coherent approach to the practical problems raised by deal protection provisions.

Comparisons Between Enron And Other Types Of Corporate Misconduct: Compliance With Law And Ethical Decision Making As The Best Form Of Public Relations, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

One of the most important lessons that Enron offers is that sometimes managers lie and boards fail to do their jobs. Enron’s most valuable lessons relate to corporate governance, financial disclosure, accounting practices, and the management of pension funds. One of the most illuminating lessons that Enron offers, however, may be found in the reaction of jurists, legal scholars, the media, corporate professionals, elected officials, and the investing public to the Enron collapse. The general sense of public outrage is as large as the huge financial loss suffered by investors and employees.

There is a lesson to be derived …

Corporate Governance As Corporate Social Responsibility: Empathy And Race Discrimination, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

This Essay is one of a series of articles I have written that examines persistent racial discrimination in large, publicly held corporations. In spite of legislation prohibiting discrimination, employees of color have alleged that they have been the victims of discriminatory employment practices and racial harassment in the workplaces governed by large companies. Antidiscrimination law has not remedied the racially toxic corporate cultures of many of these companies. Because Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act has no “generalized code of workplace civility,” it does little to ameliorate workplace racial harassment. For this reason, a new approach is required …

The Enduring Illegitimacy Of The Poison Pill, Julian Velasco

Journal Articles

The poison pill is the ultimate defense against a hostile takeover. From management's perspective, it is almost too good to be true. Originally, the poison pill was seen as a way to guard against the worst of hostile takeover tactics. It has been successful; the poison pill has virtually eliminated these tactics from the repertoires of hostile bidders. However, the poison pill is extremely potent, capable of preventing all hostile takeovers, regardless of their underlying merit. Thus, the poison pill eventually became the means to employ a just say no defense of resisting hostile takeovers, regardless of the interests of …

Stakeholder Protection In Germany And Japan, Mark J. Loewenstein

Publications

This Essay considers the stakeholder debate in the context of the German and Japanese legal systems. Although, nominally, corporations in those countries must operate in the interests of shareholders, in fact nonshareholder constituencies have considerable influence on corporate decision makers. Of equal importance, weak securities markets and ineffective or nonexistent legal protections for shareholders are also important factors in strengthening the position of nonshareholder constituencies and freeing directors to consider their interests. Thus, the stakeholder debate is more of an issue in the United States and Britain, where more shareholder-centic models flourish.