Business Organizations Law Commons^™

The Case For Leverage-Based Corporate Human Rights Responsibility, Stepan Wood

All Faculty Publications

Should companies’ human rights responsibilities arise, in part, from their “leverage” – their ability to influence others’ actions through their relationships? Special Representative John Ruggie rejected this proposition in the United Nations Framework for business and human rights. I argue that leverage is a source of responsibility where there is a morally significant connection between the company and a rights-holder or rights-violator, the company is able to make a contribution to ameliorating the situation, it can do so at modest cost, and the threat to human rights is substantial. In such circumstances companies have a responsibility to exercise leverage even …

Mers: The Unreported Effects Of Lost Chain Of Title On Real Property Owners, David E. Woolley, Lisa D. Herzog

UC Law Business Journal

A Mortgage Electronic Registry System ("MERS") keeps electronic records on half of the home mortgages in the United States. The author analyzes the destructive effect that the MERS system will have on 400 years of recorded property rights in the United States, explains how junior and senior property rights are determined in the face of a boundary dispute, and discusses the robo-signer scandal. The article explains how the lost chain of title affects homeowners with or without mortgages in the MERS system, including the ramifications on the ground for determining property boundaries and proof of ownership in order to obtain …

Corporate Opportunities And Corporate Competition In Illinois: A Comparative Discussion Of Fiduciary Duties, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1 (2012), William Lynch Schaller

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Department Of Defense, Inc.: The Dod's Use Of Corporate Strategies To Manage U. S. Overseas Military Bases, Matt Weyand

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This paper examines the Department of Defense's use of corporate strategies to manage U.S. overseas military bases and concludes that the Department of Defense's continued use of these corporate strategies which have negatively impacted the United States' relationship with host nations-depends on the Department of Defense's ability to successfully strike a balance between efficiency and diplomacy.

Business Insolvency And The Irish Debt Crisis, Paul B. Lewis

Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business

No abstract provided.

Restoring Balance To Checks And Balances: Checking The Executive's Power Under The State Secrets Doctrine, Mohamed V. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., Jessica Slattery Karich

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Connecting Law And Creativity: The Role Of Lawyers In Supporting Creative And Innovative Economic Development, Amanda M. Spratley

UC Law Business Journal

The article presents and discusses opportunities for advocacy that lie at the intersection of the legal and creative community. Economists have identified a shift from in the economy where the most valued quality for stimulating the economy is creativity. This shift will force lawyers to reorient their legal services to survive and better responds to their clients. The articles examines the challenges facing a subset of artists and the link between the creative economy and strengthening regional and local U.S. economies, focusing on the development of microenterprises. The article also details practical steps lawyers can take to provide legal assistance …

Dispute Resolution As A Part Of Your Merger Or Your Acquisition Agreement, Kenneth Mathieu, Vincent (Trace) P. Schmeltz Iii

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Often overlooked until invoked, the dispute resolution provisions of an acquisition agreement frequently mirror the terms of a lawyer’s last deal. Yet such provisions—including purchase price adjustment clauses, the terms of governing earn-out disputes, and the contract sections outlining the indemnification claims process—often have long-term economic ramifications on the buyers and sellers. In working with corporate lawyers over the years, we have noted that corporate lawyers understand (and give intense thought to) the leverage their clients have, what their clients hope to accomplish in a transaction, and what makes long-term economic sense in drafting an agreement and negotiating more advantageous …

Considerations For Private Equity Firms When Utilizing Chapter 11 New Value Deals, Alexandra Wilde

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The new value exception to the Chapter 11 absolute priority rule provides a narrow avenue for equity holders to retain an equity interest in a reorganized company over the objections of senior creditors and interest holders. With the increasing number of Chapter 11 reorganization filings by private equity owned companies, private equity firms may be interested in exploring ways to retain their equity ownership in the debtor company. This Note explores the unique implications a private equity firm may encounter when attempting to utilize the new value exception as a last resort to maintain ownership in a debtor company. Part …

Student Intellectual Property Issues On The Entrepreneurial Campus, Bryce C. Pilz

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This article examines issues that are more frequently arising for universities concerning intellectual property in student inventions. It seeks to identify the issue, explain the underlying law, identify actual and proposed solutions to these issues, and explain the legal ramifications of these potential solutions.

The Delaware Series Llc: Sophisticated And Flexible Business Planning, Ann E. Conaway, Peter I. Tsoflias

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The authors conclude that the Delaware series supplies a beneficial, efficient use of a combined contractual Delaware entity form when pooled with sensible, informed planning by sophisticated business attorneys. Such benefits are particularly noticeable in investment vehicles where managers embark to minimize risk by diversifying the fund’s assets or receive funding with specific covenants attached that limit the acceptable uses of the funds. The series is not, however, for general practitioners who have the occasional client wishing for the latest benefit Delaware has to offer its investors. To provide context, Parts II-IV of this article provide a brief overview of …

A Very Quiet Revolution: A Primer On Securities Crowdfunding And Title Iii Of The Jobs Act, Thaya Brook Knight, Huiwen Leo, Adrian A. Ohmer

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

This essay introduces the complex regulatory regime that governs the public sale of all securities, no matter how small the offeror. It is intended as a rudimentary roadmap for the start-up or its counsel and will, hopefully, help to illuminate the traps for the unwary while providing an overview of the regulatory universe in which securities crowdfunding will operate.

Private Equity In Brazil: Industry Overview And Regulatory Environment, Shannon Guy

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The overall goal of this note is to paint a picture of the current state of the private equity industry in Brazil and the existing regulations which must be obeyed to participate as a private equity investor. Part II of this note provides a brief history of the private equity industry in Brazil, discusses recent investor interest in the growing area, and introduces the main regulatory bodies in Brazil. Part III explains several specific rules that govern a private equity investment by breaking down the “life” of a private equity investment into four stages: (1) setting up the private equity …

Venture Capital Investments In China: The Use Of Offshore Financing Structures And Corporate Relocations, Jing Li

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

Based on an analysis of the relevant Chinese laws and regulations governing the corporate governance structure of venture capital (“VC”)-invested firms, as well as a discussion on the feasibility of employing different alternatives to make direct and indirect VC investments in Chinese portfolio firms, this article studies a hand-collected sample consisting of the twenty-nine VCbacked Chinese portfolio firms that have been financed and listed from 1990 to 2005 in order to empirically show how these investments were actually made in practice. The findings show that twenty-three out of the twentynine firms received their VC investments in various offshore holding entities, …

Whistleblowers And Rogues: An Urgent Call For An Affirmative Defense To Corporate Criminal Liability, Marcia Narine

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Romantic Corporation: Trademark, Trust, And Tyranny, Malla Pollack

University of Baltimore Law Review

Humans in the United States, and many other market-centric nations, live in a world extensively populated by friendly, helpful, honest, charitable, patriotic beings worthy of our respect and support — none of whom exist. Yet these fellow-beings speak to us humans so often that they must be part of our ingrained perception of the world. Who are they? They are the marketing personas created by totally self-interested businesses. They harm humans not only by misdirection in specific instances, but by providing cover for our government's improper prioritization of corporate interests over human interests. This systemic distortion of public perception is …

Is United States Corporate Tax Policy Outsourcing America - A Critical Analysis Of The Proposed Tax Holiday For Trapped Cfc Earnings, Robert Bloink

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

THE debate about how best to reform U.S. corporate tax policy has focused almost exclusively on making U.S. corporations more competitive globally. But the debate often glosses over tax policy's effect on the ultimate beneficiaries of corporate success and failure—U.S. corporate stakeholders. The assumption often has been that healthy, competitive U.S. corporations equal healthy stakeholders—including shareholders, employees, and the U.S. populace as a whole. However, recent economic research has brought the assumption of "trickle down" success into question. This Article suggests an alternate path focused on enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. MNCs in the global economy while enhancing the welfare …

Still Solvent: The Third Circuit Continues To Support "Deepening Insolvency" As A Viable Tort Claim In In Re Lemington Home For The Aged, Eric Kim

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Irony Of At&T V. Concepcion, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Works

This Essay explores the possible dual readings of Concepcion in light of the FAA and its interpretation, including Supreme Court precedents. This Essay concludes that though there is support for interpreting the Concepcion decision narrowly, it is more likely that a broader interpretation was intended, but the metes and bounds of this opinion have yet to be explored. Nonetheless, under this broad interpretation, the effect on consumers will be to discourage individuals from seeking redress for their claims. Indeed, the decision may actually encourage businesses to breach contractual obligations with impunity when the individual sums owed are too small to …

A License To Grow: Ending State, Local, And Some Federal Barriers To Innovation And Growth In Key Sectors Of The U.S. Economy, Brian J. Broughman, Brink Lindsey, Anthony J. Luppino, Karl S. Okamoto, Mark C. Suchman, Robert E. Litan, Larry E. Ribstein

Faculty Works

This white paper outlines some of the remaining state barriers and a few federal ones and how they prevent disruptive innovations by entrepreneurs and established firms alike that potentially could bring new and more efficient business models to the market. In the case of the legal sector, the barriers we identify not only adversely affect legal innovation, but also impede innovation in other sectors of the economy. Similarly, in health care, pharmaceuticals, K-12 education, the financing of growth businesses, and many consumer services, legal obstructions hinder innovation and the provision of efficient, affordable, high-quality services and products. We conclude by …

Pathway To Minority Shareholder Protection: Derivative Actions In The People's Republic Of China, Donald C. Clarke, Nicholas C. Howson

Book Chapters

Using a dataset of Chinese judicial opinions arising in over fifty cases, this paper analyses the development and current implementation of shareholder derivative actions in the courts of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), both before and after the derivative lawsuit was explicitly authorized in the PRC’s 2006 Company Law effective January 1, 2006. In addition, we describe the very unique ecology of enterprise organization and corporate governance in modern China, and critique the formal design of the derivative action and offer reform suggestions. We find the design of the Chinese derivative lawsuit to be, in some respects, innovative and …

Partners Without Partners: The Legal Status Of Single Person Partnerships, Donald J. Weidner, Robert J. Hillman

Scholarly Publications

Is it possible to have a partnership consisting of one person, a partner without a partner? The question will arise when all but one of the members leaves a partnership. The Revised Uniform Partnership Act attempts to give greater stability to partnerships by narrowing the circumstances under which dissolutions occur, but it also fails to address the fundamental and important question of whether a partnership may be continued by a sole surviving partner.

In this Article, we explore the issues raised by a single person partnership. In particular, we address the central issue of whether the departure of the penultimate …

Corporate Governance: The Swedish Solution, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

Sweden has changed its corporate governance system by delegating the nomination of corporate directors (and thus, in effect, ultimate control) to committees typically comprising representatives of each company’s largest shareholders. This system gives shareholders a degree of power “that only the most daring corporate governance initiatives in the rest of the world could even imagine.” By all accounts the change has been successful; no one is complaining about it.

In the United States investors have long been kept weak in corporate governance for fear that giving them a major role would damage corporations in numerous ways. The Swedish experience seems …

Perfect Storms: Congressional Regulation Of Executive Compensation, Joy Sabino Mullane

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Responsible Profitability - Not On My Balance Sheet, 61 Cath. U. L. Rev. 651 (2012), Arthur Acevedo

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Many free-market capitalists believe in the syllogism that if a free market results in progress, and if progress is good, then by definition a free market must be good. Two hundred years of economic development support this proposition. The capitalist model, which is premised on free-market ideology, is credited with producing many of the riches enjoyed by society as a whole. Indeed, the pursuit of economic freedom ranks among the primary motivations for the founding of the United States. The corporation has enabled that pursuit and can be credited with greatly contributing to the advancement of free-market capitalism.

Proponents of …

L3cs: An Innovative Choice For Urban Entrepreneurs And Urban Revitalization, Dana Thompson

Articles

Social enterprises offer fresh ways of addressing seemingly intractable social problems, such as high levels of unemployment and poverty in economically distressed urban areas in the United States. Indeed, although social enterprises have deep and longstanding roots, the recent iteration of the social enterprise movement is gaining momentum in the United States and globally. Though there is not a singularly accepted legal definition of social enterprises, they are popularly known as businesses that use forprofit business practices, principles, and discipline to accomplish socially beneficial goals. Social entrepreneurs, those who operate social enterprises, eschew a traditional notion of charity, which primarily …

Fixing Section 409a: Legislative And Administrative Options, Gregg D. Polsky

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Who Bears The Cost Of Excessive Executive Compensation (And Other Corporate Agency Costs)?, David I. Walker

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Tax's Triviality As A Pay-Reforming Device, Andrew C.W. Lund

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Too Many Tiaras: Conflicting Fiduciary Duties In The Family-Owned Business Context, Karen E. Boxx

Articles

Family-owned businesses have been called the "backbone of the U.S. economy," but passing control of a family business to the next generation is so complex that the majority of family businesses do not survive the transition. A common scenario that leads to problems is where owners want to leave the business to their children but only one child is interested in and capable of managing the business.

A popular solution is to leave the interested child an equal share of the business, together with management control, and leave the other children's interests in the business in trust, with the manager …