Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Data First, Tax Next: How Fiji’S Technology Can Improve New Zealand’S 'Netflix Tax' (Part 2), Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

This is the second in a four-part series addressing VAT/GST avoidance schemes involving remote sales of services. These schemes have been growing in importance. The IMF reports that the services component of cross-border trade has been on the rise for fifty-years or more, making the Internet a serious threat to revenue. Technology has accelerated tax avoidance.

Statutory draftsmen in New Zealand have looked at this problem directly with what has been called the Netflix Tax. Technologist in Fiji have been struggling with similar problems and have developed technology-based security systems that would seem to address remote sales of services more …

Loyalty Loses Ground To Market Freedom In The U.S. Supreme Court, Daniel Harris

William & Mary Business Law Review

In the last decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a much less moralistic and much more market-oriented approach to questions of fiduciary loyalty. In cases involving fiduciaries with conflicts of interest, the Court has shifted the burden of proof to the party claiming unfair treatment, thereby protecting deals and making loyalty harder to enforce. The Court has also struck down or narrowly construed laws designed to prevent disloyalty by fiduciaries on the theory that broad prohibitions on business conduct encroach on constitutionally protected freedoms.

This Article discusses how the Supreme Court’s new approach represents a departure from the Court’s …

Criminal Trade Secret Theft Cases Against Judgment Proof Defendants In Texas And California, Michelle Evans, Kurt M. Saunders

William & Mary Business Law Review

Trade secret theft is a costly and ongoing risk to many businesses. As the two most populous states, California and Texas are home to numerous businesses that own trade secrets. Although civil remedies afford one source of relief when a trade secret has been stolen or disclosed, collecting on a judgment may be impossible due to the Homestead laws in both states, which effectively render the defendants judgment proof. In such cases, another alternative is to consider a criminal prosecution under the Federal Economic Espionage Act or state law. The same misconduct that results in civil liability can also violate …

Government Ownership Of Banks: A Curse Or A Blessing For The United States?, Yueh-Ping (Alex) Yang

William & Mary Business Law Review

During the Financial Crisis of 2007–2008, the Treasury injected an enormous amount of capital and held equity in 707 financial institutions to stabilize the U.S. financial system. The government’s large-scale ownership of banks alarmed the U.S. banking sector. The mainstream opinion in the United States strongly opposed this practice, mostly due to the distrust of the government and the fear that government intervention would jeopardize private shareholders’ interests. Later developments, including the Treasury’s quick exit from its holdings and the Dodd-Frank Act’s declaration of the end of bailouts, suggest that the U.S. government eventually succumbed to the mainstream opinion.

Such …

Data First, Tax Next: How Fiji’S Technology Can Improve New Zealand’S 'Netflix Tax' (Part 1), Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past decade the VAT in the South Pacific has been changing. More change is coming. Change is needed in both the larger economies (Australia and New Zealand) and the smaller ones (the Pacific Island Countries or PICs). The changes we see currently are propelled by cross-border remote sales of services and low-value goods.

The government response in the South Pacific is not uniform. The larger economies have relied on statutory remedies; the smaller economies are turning to technology. The larger economies are crafting complex, extra-territorial compliance provisions targeting remote sellers. The smaller economies are mandating secure digital invoices, …

Board Governance For The Twenty-First Century, Faith Stevelman, Sarah C. Haan

Scholarly Articles

A decade after the global financial crisis, corporate governance is in a state of flux. A conceptual shift is underway. Years ago, in "first wave" governance, boards had a cozy relationship with the company C-suite. In "second wave" governance, which took hold in the 1970s, legal academics reimagined the board's role, conceptualizing directors as monitors charged with limiting waste and abuse that can arise in agency relationships. Now, we find ourselves at the threshold of "third wave" governance, in which boards are asked to grapple immediately and candidly with both the financial aspects of business and new environmental, social, and …

Business Law Bulletin, Spring 2019

Business Law Bulletin

No abstract provided.

Incapacitating Criminal Corporations, W. Robert Thomas

Vanderbilt Law Review

If there is any consensus in the fractious debates over corporate punishment, it is this: a corporation cannot be imprisoned, incarcerated, jailed, or otherwise locked up. Whatever fiction the criminal law entertains about corporate personhood, having a physical "body to kick"-and, by extension, a body to throw into prison-is not one of them. The ambition of this project is not to reject this obvious point but rather to challenge the less-obvious claim it has come to represent: incapacitation, despite long being a textbook justification for punishing individuals, does not bear on the criminal law of corporations.

This Article argues that …

Externalizing Board Governance Means Changing The Board's Function, Kelli Alces Williams

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Cybersecurity Oversight Liability, Benjamin P. Edwards

Georgia State University Law Review

A changing cybersecurity environment now poses a significant corporate-governance challenge. Although some cybersecurity data breaches may be inevitable, courts now increasingly consider when a corporation’s officers and directors may be held liable on theories that they acted in bad faith and failed to adequately oversee the corporation’s affairs. This short essay reviews recent derivative decisions and encourages corporate boards to recognize that in an environment filled with increasing threats, a reasonable response will require devoting real resources and attention to cybersecurity issues.

Procompetitive Justifications In Antitrust Law, John M. Newman

Indiana Law Journal

The Rule of Reason, which has come to dominate modern antitrust law, allows defendants the opportunity to justify their conduct by demonstrating procompetitive effects. Seizing the opportunity, defendants have begun offering increasingly numerous and creative explanations for their behavior.

But which of these myriad justifications are valid? To leading jurists and scholars, this has remained an “open question,” even an “absolute mystery.” Examination of the relevant case law reveals multiple competing approaches and seemingly irreconcilable opinions. The ongoing lack of clarity in this area is inexcusable: procompetitive-justification analysis is vital to a properly functioning antitrust enterprise.

This Article provides answers …

Harnessing Tbgis For Regulatory Quality And Marginalized Actors, Stepan Wood, Errol Meidinger, Burkard Eberlein, Rebecca Schmidt, Kenneth W. Abbott

All Faculty Publications

The chapters of this book paint a mixed and not particularly optimistic picture of the prospects for harnessing transnational business governance interactions (TBGIs)—the myriad overlaps, intersections, conflicts, collisions and synergies amongst the actors and institutions involved in transnational regulation of business activity—to improve the quality of transnational regulation and advance marginalized interests. This chapter synthesizes key findings about the impact of TBGIs of regulatory quality and marginalized actors, explores the implications of these findings for identifying and shaping TBGIs that foster regulatory quality or advance marginalized interests, and presents concluding reflections on lessons learned and future research directions.

Shareholder Activism And Stakeholder Engagement Strategies: Promoting Environmental Justice, Human Rights, And Sustainable Development Goals, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an ambitious "plan of action for people, planet and prosperity" which seeks to promote peace and eradicate poverty. The Agenda's goals cannot be reached without private sector participation and changes to certain business practices that contribute to adverse environmental and human rights impacts. When natural resources are managed responsibly the resulting economic development can help to eradicate poverty. However, when natural resources are managed poorly, certain extractives industry sector practices can generate or exacerbate human rights abuses, environmental degradation, corruption, and conflict. Fossil fuels are connected to the changing climate. The …

Competition Policy On Online Taxi In Indonesia, Udin Silalahi

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The presence of application-based taxis such as Grabcar and Gocar is a challenge for conventional taxis. Its existence can be reduced to conventional taxi company turnover. On March 22, 2016 thousands of conventional taxi drivers held a demonstration against the existence of online taxis, because online taxis were declared in violation of the Traffic Law and consequently the streets in Jakarta were chaotic. The existence of online taxis cannot be avoided any more, due to technological developments. Online taxis provide benefits and convenience for passengers in ordering and the rates are cheaper than conventional taxi rates. Anyone who has a …

Divestasi Pt. Freeport Indonesia, Erni Yoesr Yoesry

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Indonesia’s natural resources potential especially in mining sector make it becomes hunted by foreign investor, one of them is PT. Freeport Indonesia. Freeport operates in Indonesia under a Contract of Work (KK) which was signed in 1967. In this contract of work, all management and operational matters are handed over to miners. The state has no control over the operation of the company. The State would only receive royalties of the amount that has been determined in contract of work. Mining companies that want to export processed minerals (concentrates) ought to relinquish the status of contract of work into a …

Say On Purpose: Lessons From Chinese Corporate Charters, Li-Wen Lin

All Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility? Legislative Innovation And Judicial Application In China, Li-Wen Lin

All Faculty Publications

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often understood as voluntary corporate behavior beyond legal compliance. The recent emergence of CSR legislation is challenging this typical understanding. A number of countries including China, Indonesia and India have expressly stated in corporate law that companies shall undertake CSR. The CSR law is controversial. Critics of CSR see the law as an unwise effort to challenge profit maximization as the only social responsibility of the corporation. Even CSR advocates welcome the CSR law with great caution. Given the vague statutory language of CSR, the practical application of the law places high demands on the …

Crowdfunding In Arkansas? Yes, You Can!, Carol Goforth

Arkansas Law Notes

Following enactment of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (also known as the JOBS Act) in 2012, the SEC expanded the options for issuers seeking an exemption from the registration requirement for the sale of securities under federal law, while simultaneously preempting inconsistent state law. One such innovation was Regulation Crowdfunding, generally referred to as Reg. CF, which currently allows compliant issuers to raise up to $1,070,000 in any 12-month period by seeking relatively small investments from a large number of investors.

Robert 0 . Scarborough, Jr Et Al., Order On Defendants' Motion For Judgment On The Pleadings As To Counts Iv, Vi, Vii Of The Fourth Amended Complaint, Elizabeth E. Long

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Serivces, Llc Et Al., Order On Summary Judgment Motions, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Equitrade International, Inc. Et Al., Final Order Granting Defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment And Closing Case, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

John Souza Et Al., Order On Defendants' Motions For Summary Judgment, Elizabeth E. Long

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Bytes Bite: Why Corporate Data Breaches Should Give Standing To Affected Individuals, Caden Hayes

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

High-profile data hacks are not uncommon. In fact, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, there have been at least 7,961 data breaches, exposing over 10,000,000,000 accounts in total, since 2005. These shocking numbers are not particularly surprising when taking into account the value of information stolen. For example, cell phone numbers, as exposed in a Yahoo! hack, are worth $10 a piece on the black market, meaning the hackers stood to make $30,000,000,000 from that one hack. That dollar amount does not even consider copies the hackers could make and later resell. Yet while these hackers make astronomical payoffs, the …

Easing “[T]He Burden Of The Brutalized”: Applying Bystander Intervention Training To Corporate Conduct, Jena Martin

Catholic University Law Review

The last few years have borne witness to a shift regarding how to address issues of oppression and social injustice. Across many different advocacy points—from police brutality to sexual violence—there seems to be a consensus that simply engaging the oppressor or the victim is not enough to effect real social change. The consensus itself is not new: it has been at the heart of many social justice movements over the years. However, what is new is the explicit evocation of the bystander within this framework. Too often, in conversations on conflicts generally (and negative human rights impact specifically), bystanders have …

Law School News: Introducing The Joint Jd/Mba Degree 03/07/2019, Edward Fitzpatrick

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Samaca, Llc, Amended Order On Defendants' Motion For Attorneys' Fees And Expenses And Plaintiff Samaca, Llc's Cross Motion To Compel Arbitration Of Defendants' Motion For Legal Expenses, Alice D. Bonner

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Gush. Small Et Al., Order On Defendant Lankford's Motion To Compel Discovery And Plaintiffs' Motion For Protective Order, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Frances B. Bunzl Et Al., Order On Plaintiffs' Motion For Determination Of Admlssibility Of Documents, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Drummond Financial Services, Llc, Order On Motions For Protective Orders And To Quash Proposed Depositions And To Amend The Case Management Order, John J. Goger

Superior Court of Fulton County: Metro Atlanta Business Case Division Opinions

No abstract provided.

Taxing Selling Partners, Emily Cauble

Washington Law Review

When a partner sells a partnership interest, the resulting gain or loss is treated as capital gain or loss, except to the extent that the partnership holds certain items whose sale would result in gain or loss that was not capital. Seemingly, the purpose of this regime is to prevent taxpayers from obtaining more favorable treatment by selling an interest in a partnership than what would result if the partnership were to sell its underlying assets. But given this legislative aim, the existing tax provisions produce results for taxpayers that are both unduly favorable (in that sale of a partnership …