Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Good Faith In Revlon-Land, Christopher M. Bruner

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Producing Corporate Text: Courtrooms, Conference Rooms, And Classrooms, Mae Kuykendall

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing Lyondell: Reconstructing Revlon, Lawrence Lederman

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Good Faith After Disney: Justice Berger’S Closing Discussion, Carolyn Berger

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extending The Fraud-On-The-Market Presumption Beyond Basic: A Case Of Poor Analogies And Over-Eager Courts, Dana Lai

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Towards A Stakeholder-Shareholder Theory Of Corporate Governance: A Comparative Analysis, Katharine V. Jackson

UC Law Business Journal

This article sets forth an argument as to why the empowerment of stakeholder investors presents the only currently viable means for stakeholders to influence the behavior of the American public corporation. The article explores the history of corporations in America, Germany, and the United Kingdom and analyzes the disparate theories of corporate governance between the countries. Through this analysis, it will become clear that: (1) of the various interests having control over corporate decision-making, shareholders can best accommodate stakeholder interests; (2) stakeholder interests can be represented in corporate management and decisionmaking; and (3) the empowerment of stakeholder-shareholders can reform corporate …

Creditor Claims In Arbitration And In Court, Christopher R. Drahozal, Samantha Zyontz

UC Law Business Journal

This article compares debt collection cases brought by business claimants in arbitration-both individual AAA debt collection arbitrations and cases brought under a program of debt collection arbitrations administered by the AAA-to debt collection cases brought in court. This research adds new information to the policy debate over consumer arbitration. The differing win rates for business claimants and consumer claimants appear to result from two factors, neither of which provides evidence of bias in favor of business claimants. First, the types of claims businesses bring in arbitration tend to differ from the types of claims consumers bring. Second, business claims are …

Protecting Title In Continental Europe And The United States - Restriction Of A Market, Peter Soskin

UC Law Business Journal

Out of the many issues facing homebuyers, arguably, the most important is ensuring that title to their property is free and clear of encumbrances. The buyer must follow prescribed protocols in order to ensure and protect ownership rights over property and avoid later claims. This note will compare title protection procedures and costs for residential real estate in United States and Continental Europe. The concludes by explaining how the different procedures for ensuring transfer of good title, or at least financial protection from third party claims, are the result of each region's unique historical development.

Implementation Of China's 2007 Open Government Information Regulation, Nolan R. Shaw

UC Law Business Journal

This note reviews the implementation of China's 2007 Open Government Information Regulation both in and outside the courts. Increased information about the workings of government promotes fairness, improved government work, civic participation, and faith in government. This note reviews the unsurprising hiccoughs in the initial implementation of the OGI Regulation, but also notes that most government offices are making positive efforts to comply with the OGI Regulation. The note concludes that the law is an important step in China's move towards greater transparency, but needs broader judicial application to be effective.

The Fabricated Unwind Doctrine: The True Meaning Of Penn V. Robertson, John Prebble, Chye-Ching Huang

UC Law Business Journal

The Tax Unwind Doctrine allows taxpayers, who are parties to a prior taxable transaction, to effectively "undo" the transaction and return to the status quo as if the transaction never occurred. This article finds that Penn v. Robertson is not authority for the unwind doctrine, contrary to the routine assertions of the Internal Revenue Service, practitioners, taxpayers, and legal academics. This article shows that the unwind doctrine, and the large structure of tax practice built upon it, has no foundation in case law. The article considers the practical significance of the misunderstanding of Penn v. Robertson in Revenue Ruling 80-85 …

Sunlight On Iran: How Reductive Standards Of Materiality Excuse Incomplete Disclosure Under The Securities Laws, Amy Deen Westbrook

UC Law Business Journal

U.S. federal securities law protects investors by requiring companies to disclose information that is "material," information that would be significant to a reasonable person making an investment decision. This article examines the doctrine of materiality as it is currently being used by reporting companies to avoid disclosure of activities in Iran. The Securities and Exchange Commission's reductive standard relies on notions of informational efficiency made implausible after the financial crisis, undercuts crucial U.S. foreign policy, and fails to protect investors. Consequently, this article argues that the Securities and Exchange Commission should use a broader understanding of materiality.

Why Can't We Be Friends?: Why California Needs A Lifestyle Discrimination Statute To Protect Employees From Employment Actions Based On Their Off-Duty Behavior, Jean M. Roche

UC Law Business Journal

This note explores the employment implications that social networking has on private employees and discusses the need for a lifestyle discrimination statute in California. The note begins with an overview of the increasing use of social networking, both within the employment context as well as within society as a whole. The note then analyzes current privacy protections under federal and California law and contrasts those protections with lifestyle discrimination statutes adopted in Colorado and New York. Ultimately, the note concludes that California should adopt a statute that would provide protection to employees who are terminated for off-duty, off-site behaviors which …

An Unstoppable Force: The Offshore World In A Modern Global Economy, Michael J. Burns, James Mcconvill

UC Law Business Journal

Offshore financial centres ("OFCs") are often labelled "tax havens" due to a misconception that they only serve to avoid tax liability. This comment focuses on the many other practical reasons for using OFCs in international business. Reducing tax liability is just one of many reasons why structures utilise products from OFCs. The authors argue that OFCs are not simply "tax havens," but are a positive, unstoppable force in their own right.

Access To United States Courts By Purchasers Of Foreign Listed Securities In The Aftermath Of Morrison V. National Australia Bank Ltd., Roger W. Kirby

UC Law Business Journal

This article evaluates and critiques the Morrison decision, which precluded access to United States federal courts for purchasers of securities listed on foreign exchanges bringing claims arising under section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The article also identifies alternative methods by which those purchasers may pursue claims for securities related fraud in United States courts.

The Meaning Of 'Sphere Of Influence' In Iso 26000, Stepan Wood

All Faculty Publications

The relationship between a company’s influence and its social responsibilities is the subject of persistent controversy, manifested for example in the debate over the use of the concept of “sphere of influence” (SOI) to define the scope of a company’s social responsibility. Early drafts of the ISO 26000 guide on social responsibility employed SOI in this way, stating among other things that influence can give rise to responsibility and that generally, the greater the ability to influence, the greater the responsibility. The UN Special Representative on business and human rights, John Ruggie, rejected this use of SOI as ambiguous, misleading, …

Introduction To 'New Governance And The Business Organization', Cristie Ford, Mary Condon

All Faculty Publications

In the fall of 2010, the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law welcomed a group of scholars from around the world to consider the state, and evolution, of responsive regulation, in both theory and practice. The occasion was the presence of Dr. John Braithwaite as UBC Law’s inaugural Fasken Martineau Senior Visiting Scholar. This paper is an introductory essay to the special edition of the UBC Law Review devoted to the workshop’s resulting work products. The volume begins with John Braithwaite’s own reflections on the responsive regulation project. On one level, the set of essays that follows his can …

Corporate Monitorships And New Governance Regulation: In Theory, In Practice, And In Context, Cristie Ford, David Hess

All Faculty Publications

This paper was prepared for a conference on "New Governance and the Business Organization" at the University of British Columbia in May 2009. It considers government agencies' increasingly common strategy of resolving corporate criminal law and securities regulations violations by way of settlement agreements that require corporations to improve their compliance programs and hire independent monitors to oversee the changes. Based on our interviews with corporate monitors, regulators, and others in the United States and Canada, we identify the ways in which these monitorships in practice fall substantially short of the ideal new governance model we describe. These failings are …

Corporate Governance Reform For The 21st Century: A Critical Reassessment Of The Shareholder Primacy Model, Carol Liao

All Faculty Publications

This article questions the efficiency of the shareholder primacy model of corporate governance in light of the financial calamities that have plagued the first decade of the 21st century. Reform efforts following the global financial crisis have focused on failures in securities regulation, but that is only part of the story. Effective reform measures must also address the legal and normative prescriptions found within existing governance structures, and the collateral effect those prescriptions have on political and regulatory inaction.

There was strong ideological support for the shareholder primacy model at the start of the century. Following the corporate and accounting …

Gangs And Gang Activity In America: A Prevention Report, Portland State University. Criminology And Criminal Justice Senior Capstone

Criminology and Criminal Justice Senior Capstone Project

This report covers information on gangs, gang activity, and gang prevention. The report reveals information such as the history of gangs in the U.S., the definition of “gang,” data on prevalence, persons affected by gang activity, demographics of gangs and their members, criminal activity committed by gangs, gang hierarchical structure, prevention strategies, and effectiveness of gang prevention programs.

A Tisket, A Tasket: Basketing And Corporate Tax Shelters, Leandra Lederman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In an income tax system that comported with the economic, or Haig-Simons, definition of income, deductible expenses would not face source-based limitations. A true Haig-Simons income tax system therefore would not take the schedular approach of sorting different types of expenses and losses into distinct conceptual “baskets” containing corresponding types of income. Practical realities often require departing from the Haig-Simons norm, however. The U.S. federal income tax system does require individuals to basket a number of types of expenses and losses. For example, individuals’ passive activity losses can only be deducted from passive income gains. By contrast, most corporations taxed …

Business Interest Cases – October 2009 Term, Leon D. Lazer, Leon Friedman

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Strategic Spillovers, Daniel B. Kelly

Journal Articles

The conventional problem with externalities is well known: Parties often generate harm as an unintended byproduct of using their property. This Article examines situations in which parties may generate harm purposely, in order to extract payments in exchange for desisting. Such “strategic spillovers” have received relatively little attention, but the problem is a perennial one. From the “livery stable scam” in Chicago to “pollution entrepreneurs” in China, parties may engage in externality-generating activities they otherwise would not have undertaken, or increase the level of harm given that they are engaging in such activities, to profit through bargaining or subsidies. This …

Deconstructing Corporate Governance: Absolute Director Primacy, René Reich-Graefe

Faculty Scholarship

Microtheoretical models of the corporation which focus on corporate governance attempt to answer two deceptively simple, but fundamentally elusive questions: ‘Who are in control of the corporation?’ and ‘Whose interests ultimately control those in control of the corporation?’ Both questions remain partially unanswered within the models developed to date by corporate theoreticians. This Article proposes a radically new model: 'absolute director primacy.’ Existing microtheoretical models conceive that we only need to—and, indeed, can—determine the controlling interests guiding corporate decisionmaking in order to prove the existence of control over the decisionmaking latitude of corporate boards. The absolute director primacy …

Allen V. Dackman: Doing Away With Limited Liability In Maryland, Jeffrey S. Quinn

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The “Non-Cumulation Clause”: An “Other Insurance” Clause By Another Name, Chris French

Faculty Scholarship

How long-tail liability claims such as asbestos bodily injury claims and environmental property damage claims are allocated among multiple triggered policy years can result in the shifting of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars from one party to another. In recent years, insurers have argued that clauses commonly titled, “Prior Insurance and Non-Cumulation of Liability” (referred to herein as “Non-Cumulation Clauses”), which are found in commercial liability policies, should be applied to reduce or eliminate their coverage responsibilities for long-tail liability claims by shifting their coverage responsibilities to insurers that issued policies in earlier policy years. The insurers’ argument …

Teaching Gender As A Core Value In Business Organizations Class, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

I teach a business organizations course that is typically a large class with up to ninety students. At some point in the first week of each semester, I talk about public companies and the men who lead them. I point out to my students that while it is appropriate in most contexts to use gender-neutral language, it would be inaccurate to do so when talking about big business. Only fifteen percent of the board seats at Fortune 500 companies are held by women, and only sixteen percent of Fortune 500 corporate officers are women. I let my students know …

Fiduciary Duty And The Public Interest, Cheryl L. Wade

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Professor Tamar Frankel’s excellent book, Fiduciary Law, is a thorough and comprehensive look at the fiduciary-law forest. My contribution to the Symposium on The Role of Fiduciary Law and Trust in the Twenty-First Century is one leaf on one branch of one tree in the forest that Professor Frankel so expertly navigates. In this Essay, I explore the fiduciary relationship between corporate directors and officers and the shareholders they serve. I examine how the breach of fiduciary duties owed to shareholders has the power to dramatically impact non-shareholder groups.

Professor Frankel accurately observes that “[f]iduciary duties are anchored …

Beyond Profit: Rethinking Corporate Social Responsibility And Greenwashing After The Bp Oil Disaster, Miriam A. Cherry, Judd F. Sneirson

Faculty Publications

The explosion of the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon and subsequent oil spill stand as an indictment not just of our national energy priorities and environmental law enforcement; they equally represent a failure of Anglo-American corporate law and what passes for corporate social responsibility in business today. Using BP and the disaster as a compelling case study, this Article examines green marketing and corporate governance and identifies elements of each that encourage firms to engage only superficially in corporate social responsibility yet trumpet those efforts to eager consumers and investors. This Article then proposes reforms and protections designed to increase corporate social …

Ethical Issues In Business And The Lawyer's Role, Carol Morgan, Robert Rhee, Tamar Frankel, Mark Fagan

Scholarly Works

This is a transcript of a panel discussion on teaching Business Ethics.

Economic Crisis And Share Price Unpredictability: Reasons And Implications, Edward G. Fox, Merritt B. Fox, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

The volatility of share returns for individual companies increased sharply during the recent financial crisis. The larger part of this increase was due to a dramatic rise – five fold as measured by variance – in idiosyncratic risk. We find that this pattern repeats itself during each major economic reversal going back 85 years. Because idiosyncratic risk is what is involved, this increase cannot be explained by changes in predictions concerning the future course of the economy as a whole.

Our first goal is to explain why difficult economic times, which are defined in terms of market wide phenomena, make …