Commercial Law Commons^™

The Hang-Up With Hamburg: How Center For Food Safety V. Hamburg Will Alter The Food Industry, Joella Roland

Journal of Business & Technology Law

No abstract provided.

Hedge Fund Activism Report: 2013-2014, New York Law School

Center Projects

No abstract provided.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement Report: 2009-2014, New York Law School

Center Projects

No abstract provided.

Personal Guarantees And Sureties Between Commercial Law And Consumers In The United States, Christoph Henkel

Journal Articles

Guaranties and suretyships reduce the risk of default and today remain essential arrangements in many commercial and consumer transactions. A guarantor or surety promises to pay for the debt of a third party and may become primarily liable on that debt. Despite the significance of such a promise and the resulting obligation, U.S. law does not clearly distinguish between a guarantor and surety in a consumer or commercial context. This is of particular relevance, because in a consumer context a guaranty often has a gratuitous or sentimental element and a guarantor may not always be fully aware of the risks …

Regulating Cryptocurrencies In The United States: Current Issues And Future Directions, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article explores the state of virtual currencies and their regulation in and by the United States and the States. It offers thoughts on which models of regulation might suit virtual currencies best. It also surveys recent enforcement actions brought by the Departments of Treasury, Justice and Homeland Security against providers of virtual currencies or comparable electronic stored value. It concludes that issuers and users of virtual currencies are not being realistic if they think that the United States will not regulate virtual currencies for some purposes.

A New Crime For Corporate Misconduct?, Peter J. Henning

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Curtailing Subsidy Wars In Global Trade: Revisiting The Economics Of World Trade Organization Law On Subsidies, Sacchidananda Mukherjee, Debashis Chakraborty, Julien Chaisse

Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce

The positive influence of subsidies on merchandise exports is well known from international trade theory literature. However, the empirical evidence on the relationship itself remains ambiguous. This article fills a gap in the existing pool of research by conducting a panel data empirical analysis over two decades for 140 countries to understand the relationship between their overall budgetary subsidies and aggregate merchandise export inclination. The detailed research findings of this paper underline the importance of going beyond the "Bali Package" agreed in December 2013 and concluding the Doha Round Negotiations of the World Trade Organization ("WTO"). The outline for the …

Syracuse Journal Of International Law And Commerce - Volume 41, Number 2 (Complete)

Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

A Nuclear Kellogg-Briand Pact: Proposing A Treaty For The Renunciation Of Nuclear War As An Instrument Of National Policy, David Koplow

Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce

No abstract provided.

A Reply To "Hollow Spaces", George A. Bermann, Jack J. Coe Jr., Christopher R. Drahozal, Catherine A. Rogers

Faculty Scholarship

This short essay responds to Chip Brower's thoughtful and meticulous critique of Tentative Draft No. 2 of the Restatement Third of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration. While we appreciate the concerns he raises, we disagree with the conclusions he draws both about the Restatement and the drafting process. We address here what we understand to be Professor Brower's major criticisms of the work.

The Fiduciary Character Of Agency And The Interpretation Of Instructions, Deborah A. Demott

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter in a forthcoming book justifies the conventional characterization of common-law agency as a fiduciary relationship. An agent serves as the principal’s representative in dealings with third parties and facts about the world, situating the agent as an extension of the principal for legally-salient purposes. A principal’s power to furnish instructions to the agent is the fundamental mechanism through which the principal exercises control over the agent, a requisite for an agency relationship. The agent’s fiduciary duty to the principal provides a benchmark for the agent’s interpretation of those instructions. The chapter draws on philosophical literature on the identity …

Missing The Forest For The Trees: A New Approach To Shareholder Activism, Yaron Nili

Faculty Scholarship

Shareholder activism has dominated corporate governance literature for the last decade. However, despite the abundance of research focusing on specific manifestations of activism, there is a dearth of literature tackling share-holder activism as a whole. This article puts forward a novel theory situating shareholder activism within a more complete framework, treating activism as a collection of diverse models that differ by motives, tools, and structures. This paper provides a more complete perspective on activism—an analytical under-standing of activism as a model rather than an investigation of specific occurrences thereof—and a demonstration that different models of activism are present both in …

Towards More Sustainable And Less Crisis-Driven Financial Regulation, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Tesla And The Car Dealers’ Lobby, Daniel A. Crane

Law & Economics Working Papers

Tesla Motors, the offspring of the South African-American entrepreneur Elon Musk who also brought us Pay-Pal and SpaceX, is the most exciting automotive development in many decades and a marquee story of American technological dynamism and innovation. The company’s luxury electric cars have caused a sensation in the auto industry, including a review by Consumer Reports calling Tesla’s Model S the best car it ever tested.

Tesla faces enormous challenges in penetrating an automotive market that has been dominated for a century by internal combustion engines. Not only must it build cars that customers want to drive (and, ultimately, produce …

Biased? Prove It: Addressing Arbitrator Bias And The Merits Of Implementing Broad Disclosure Standards, Lindsay Melworm

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note examines the varying disclosure requirements for arbitrators in the United States and internationally, focusing on the standards for determining when an arbitral award may be vacated due to arbitrator partiality or bias. It highlights the tension between ensuring impartiality and maintaining the finality of arbitration decisions, advocating for broad initial disclosures to uphold the integrity and fairness of the process while preserving party autonomy.

Bitcoin, The Law And Emerging Public Policy: Towards A 21st Century Regulatory Scheme, Gregory M. Karch

Florida A & M University Law Review

Bitcoin is the world's first decentralized digital currency. According to Lawrence Lessig, cryptography is "the most important technological breakthrough in the last one thousand years" and will be transformative. Bitcoin, capitalizing on cryptography, is a revolutionary digital currency protocol--a software system capable of tracking financial transactions without the need for a third party intermediary. The Bitcoin software is a "community-driven open source project released under an MIT license.”

This paper begins by briefly reviewing the mechanics of Bitcoin in Section I. Section II then surveys the rapidly expanding uses of Bitcoin, as well as the emerging application of Bitcoin. Since …

International Commercial Arbitration, Anticipatory Repudiation, And The Lex Mercatoria, Kyle Winnick

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

The scope of this Note is thus two-fold: (1) to delineate the doctrine of anticipatory breach as it is currently under the lex mercatoria; and, (2) to evaluate and argue for its consistency in application by international arbitral tribunals. Section I-A discusses when arbitrators will choose to apply the lex mercatoria as the substantive law of the dispute. Section I-B explains the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation and discusses its inherent ambiguity. Section IC assesses the role of the CISG and the UNIDROIT Principles as a manifestation of the lex mercatoria. Section II-A explores the severability issue and an …

“Sticky” Arbitration Clauses? The Use Of Arbitration Clauses After Concepcion And Amex, Peter B. Rutledge, Christopher R. Drahozal

Scholarly Works

We present the results of the first empirical study of the extent to which businesses have switched to arbitration after AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion. The Supreme Court’s decision in Concepcion led commentators to predict that every business soon would use an arbitration clause, coupled with a class arbitration waiver, in their standard form contracts to avoid the risk of class actions. We examine two samples of franchise agreements: one sample in which we track changes in arbitration clauses since 1999, and a broader sample focusing on changes since 2011, immediately before Concepcion was decided. Our central finding is consistent …

The Unrelenting Libertarian Challenge To Public Accommodations Law, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Articles

There seems to be a broad consensus that Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination in “place[s] of public accommodation,” was a remarkable success. But the consensus is illusory. Laws prohibiting discrimination by public accommodations currently exist under a significant legal threat. And this threat is merely the latest iteration in the controversy over public accommodations laws that began as early as Reconstruction. This Article begins by discussing the controversy in the Reconstruction and Civil Rights Eras over the penetration of antidiscrimination principles into the realm of private businesses’ choice of customers. Although the …

Everything Must Stay In Place - President Business, The Lego Movie, Tamara Belinfanti

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

In-Sourcing Corporate Responsibility For Enforcement Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Larry D. Thompson

Scholarly Works

In this article I first review our nation's long-standing and active aversion to corporate corruption overseas, as principally embodied in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. I then explain how achievement of the FCPA's goals is undermined by the uncertainty in current federal enforcement policies and the consequent ambivalence toward self disclosure exhibited by multinational corporations. Finally, I argue that the only realistic way to make up the shortcomings in FCPA enforcement that flow from the Justice Department's limited resources is to motivate corporations themselves to police corruption in their foreign subsidiaries by giving them a concrete incentive in the form …

Agency And Partnership Law [2013], Pearlie M. C. Koh, Stephen Noel Henry Bull

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The laws relating to the creation of an agency, implied authority, holding out and apparent authority, duties of the agent in relation to Agency law are discussed. The laws relating to partnership law and issues such as relationship of partners to third parties, relationships of partners between themselves and capacity to be a partner are highlighted.

Recognition Of Foreign Judgments And Cross-Border Insolvencies, Adeline Chong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the joined appeals of Rubin v Eurofinance and New Cap Reinsurance v Grant, the Supreme Court held that first, the traditional rules on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments applied to judgments in insolvency proceedings, and secondly, the act of lodging proof in foreign insolvency proceedings by a creditor meant that he had submitted to the jurisdiction of the supervising court. This article considers these decisions and suggests that the ruling in Rubin is sound while that in New Cap is unfounded. Further, assuming instead that the law is ripe for reform, this article considers what might be appropriate …

A Wrong Turn In History: Re-Understanding The Exclusionary Rule Against Prior Negotiations In Contractual Interpretation, Yihan Goh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A reason justifying the exclusionary rule against prior negotiations in the interpretation of contracts is its longevity. Yet, the authorities commonly cited in support of the exclusionary rule are mostly traceable to Lord Wilberforce’s speech in the relatively recent case of Prenn v Simmonds. This article suggests that the law took a wrong turn in that case and caused later courts to support the exclusionary rule by recourse to policy-oriented justifications, instead of principle-based ones. The emphasis on policy-oriented justifications, and the recantation of Prenn v Simmonds as reason enough for the exclusionary rule, support an independent rule against prior …

Blackwater's New Battlefield: Toward A Regulatory Regime In The United States For Privately Armed Contractors Operating At Sea, Sean P. Mahard

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Piracy has reemerged with a vengeance in the twenty-first century. Although it is confined primarily to the horn of Africa, piracy poses a significant problem to commercial shipping companies that need to traverse the Gulf of Aden for business. In response to modern-day piracy, shipowners have begun to employ privately armed contractors for protection. Countries and international organizations have recently developed regulations to address this growth in private maritime security. This Note analyzes both international and domestic regulatory regimes for privately armed contractors with a specific focus on the United States and Norway. This Note concludes that current U.S. regulations …

Anarchy, Order, And Trade: A Structuralist Account Of Why A Global Commercial Legal Order Is Emerging, Bryan H. Druzin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

While still fragmented, the world is witnessing the emergence of a global commercial legal order independent of any one national legal system. This process is unfolding both on the macrolevel of state actors as well as on the microlevel of private individuals and organizations. On the macrolevel, the sources of this legal order are complex international agreements; on the microlevel, private contracts employing commercial customary practices and arbitration are driving this process forward. Yet there is no comparable evolution occurring (in any substantial sense) in noncommercial areas of law such as criminal, tort, or family law. There is an overall …

Foreign Direct Investment In The United States And Canada: Fractured Neoliberalism And The Regulatory Imperative, Gil Lan

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Although both Canada and the United States review foreign investment for national security concerns, Canada also requires that the investment be of "net benefit" to Canada. Recent investments by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have prompted the suggestion that the United States should also adopt a net benefit or economic test. This Article argues that the United States should not adopt the Canadian approach. The Canadian approach attempts to screen out foreign public entities and requires that they act in a "commercial" manner. This approach is based on two assumptions. First, it assumes that one can segregate …

Municipal Attorneys Can Find Answers In The Newly Released Third Edition Of Commercial Litigation In New York State Courts, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

This article contains a book review of the newest edition of Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (West), edited by former New York County Lawyers President Robert Haig of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. The author of this book review details why this treatise is an invaluable addition, not for the library shelf, but for prime desk space on the busy working lawyer’s desk. The author further notes that while the most recent edition of the treatise has been widely reviewed statewide, prior to this book review there has been little, if any, attention to the value of the …

A Fork In The Stream: The Unjustified Failure Of The Concurrence In J. Mcintyre Machinery Ltd. V. Nicastro To Clarify The Stream Of Commerce Doctrine, Cody Jacobs

Faculty Scholarship

A foreign manufacturer sells a product to an American distributor in State A, who then resells the product to an American consumer in State B. The consumer is injured by the product and attempts to sue the foreign manufacturer in State B. Can State B exercise personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer? This deceptively simple and seemingly common question, and related questions involving the socalled "stream of commerce," has fractured the United States Supreme Court for over twenty years, leaving consumers, manufacturers, and distributors unsure of their rights and potential liabilities. This Article focuses on a recent missed opportunity the Court …

Hiding In Plain Sight: "Conspicuous Type" Standards In Mandated Communication Statutes, Mary Beth Beazley

Scholarly Works

Professor Beazley defines the concept of mandated communication statutes in this examination of typeface, language, and the mind's ability to comprehend certain syntax. This article has a simple premise: when a government mandates written communication, it should present the mandated communication in a way that speeds comprehension. When communication is so important that the government is mandating the words and the presentation method, the writer and not the reader should not bear the burden of making sure that the information is comprehensible. In other words, the reader should not have to work to decipher the information; the writer should work …