Business Organizations Law Commons^™

Reflections On The Role Of The Panel, Charles Di Leva

Perspectives

Over the past thirty years, the World Bank and the Inspection Panel have had a supportive relationship regarding the principle of accountability, particularly as applied to the field of development finance operations and the role and responsibility of the Bank as a multilateral public sector financial institution. This relationship has been apparent in at least three key aspects: i) following the Bank’s lead, many development institutions around the globe have taken steps to improve their own accountability and developed independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) modeled on the Inspection Panel; ii) the Bank and other development institutions have been supporting the development …

Glass Half-Full Or Glass Half-Empty? Thirty Years Of Accountability At The Inspection Panel--The Impact Of Its Work And What The Data Tells Us, Ramanie Kunanayagam, Mark Goldsmith, Ibrahim James Pam, Serge Selwan, Richard Wyness, Ayako Kubodera, Camila Jorge Do Amarel, Rupes Dalai

Perspectives

“A stroke of a genius”, “a bold experiment in transparency and accountability that has worked to the benefit of all concerned”, “a precedent under international law”, and a “citizen-based accountability mechanism” are some of the ways in which close observers have described the World Bank Inspection Panel, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2023.

The Inspection Panel Early Years (An Inside Story), Eduardo G. Abbott

Perspectives

This retrospective analysis explores the establishment and evolution of the World Bank Inspection Panel, from the perspective of the Panel’s first executive secretary. The Perspective describes the initial expectations, challenges, and concerns faced by the first Panel members as they wrestled to operationalize an unprecedented institution. The Perspective documents the strategic actions the Panel took to safeguard its independence and ensure its accessibility to potential claimants. The Perspective concludes with a review of the Panel’s contemporary struggles for autonomy prompted by a restructuring of the Panel and the evolving landscape of accountability mechanisms within the World Bank Group.

When Congress Passes The Buck: How Russia’S Invasion Of Ukraine Exposed Flaws In Granting The President Sanctioning Powers, Artem M. Joukov, Samantha M. Caspar

Seattle University Law Review

The United States (U.S.) Constitution provides few limitations on endowing the Executive Branch with powers to govern foreign trade, which was initially granted to the Legislature. In a world where global trade dominates, the power over foreign trade can be more important than the power over domestic matters. Leaving unrestrained trade authority to the Executive Branch may cause hazards for Americans and foreigners alike. Russia’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the flaws in permitting the Executive Branch to unilaterally sanction foreign states. This Article demonstrates how reactive Executive Branch policies infringed on the welfare and safety of American citizens and foreigners …

Pedaling Backwards: Examining The King County Board Of Health’S Choice To Repeal Its Bicycle Helmet Law, Schuyler M. Peters

Seattle University Law Review

In Part I, this Comment will explain the Helmet Law itself and the timeline that ultimately led to its repeal. Part II will focus on the positive impact of the Helmet Law, the dangers associated with the repeal, why the repeal should not have occurred in the manner it did, and what societal costs stem from the BOH’s decision. Part III will address the actions that must be taken to revoke this repeal and the reasons behind these alternative pathways, including an Equity Impact Review study specifically on the consequences of repeal, a collaborative outreach program to bring helmets to …

Masthead

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

Fezzik, Are There Rocks Ahead? Navigating The Oppression Doctrine In The Age Of Llcs, Daniel S. Kleinberger

Faculty Scholarship

For many decades, the law of closely held businesses was the law of closely held corporations. For entrepreneurs and attorneys, the corporate liability shield was the key desideratum, and before the advent of limited liability companies the corporation was essentially the only game in town. Unfortunately, for many decades the liability shield came with a potentially dangerous price for minority owners. The traditional corporate norms of majority rule empowered majority shareholders to “oppress” minority shareholders or defeat such shareholders’ “reasonable expectations.”

Today, in almost all U.S. jurisdictions special rules protect minority shareholders from outright expropriation; controlling share-holders must avoid abusing …

Teaching Sustainable Business Law & The Role Of Esg Lawyers, Jason J. Czarnezki, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Brianna M. Grimes

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article is the second paper in a series laying out the emergence of sustainable business law and the role of ESG lawyers. The first paper, Sustainable Business Law? The Key Role of Corporate Governance and Finance, argues “that ‘sustainable business law’ has emerged as a distinct area of law” and “serves as an introductory explanation to define and understand the growing subject matter at the intersection of sustainability, business, and the law.” That paper also explores the key role that corporate governance and finance play in achieving sustainability, and suggests that “[a] future project for scholars ... is to …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Beyond The Business Case: Moving From Transactional To Transformational Inclusion, Jamillah Bowman Williams

Seattle University Law Review

While workplace diversity is a hot topic, the extent to which the diversity management movement has effectively improved intergroup relations and reduced racial inequality remains unclear.1 Despite large investments in diversity and inclusion training and other company wide initiatives, historically excluded groups remain vastly underrepresented in leadership and the most lucrative careers, such as finance, law, and technology. This calls the efficacy of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts into question, particularly with respect to reducing racial inequality in the workplace.

This Article explains why it is time for organizational leaders to move beyond the transactional case for diversity and …

How Firms Turn Middle Managers Into Diversity Leaders, Alexandra Kalev, Frank Dobbin

Seattle University Law Review

In 2007, the Conference Board published a piece calling middle managers “the biggest roadblock to diversity and inclusion” for standing in the way of change efforts. Today, many chief diversity officers report that they have failed both to diversify middle management and to get middle managers involved in promoting inclusion. We explore popular diversity programs that create “paper” or “symbolic” principles for achieving diversity (diversity policy statements and guidelines for hiring, promotion, and discharge), as well as programs that engage middle managers in promoting diversity (special recruitment and mentoring programs, and diversity task forces). “Paper” policies often fall flat, but …

Gender And The Constitutional Theory Of The Firm, Jamee K. Moudud

Seattle University Law Review

This Article adds to the literature that has linked feminist economics to foreign trade and development. It argues that two key factors need to be in place jointly if efforts to promote gender equity are to succeed. On the one hand it argues that foreign debt is an important constraint to domestic progressive social policies of all kinds as it increases the power of international creditors who generally tend to support austerity policies. On the other hand, while alleviating the burden of foreign debt via exportpromotion policies is necessary, it is by no means a sufficient condition to promote domestic …

Court’S Choice Of Law Ruling Undermines Washington Community Property Law: A Critique Of Shanghai Commercial Bank V. Chang, Brian D. Hulse

Seattle University Law Review

This Article deals with the issues that arise when Washington courts face the following scenario. One spouse enters into a contract without the joinder (and perhaps without the knowledge) of the other spouse. Both spouses are domiciled in Washington. The contract has contacts with one or more jurisdictions other than Washington and is generally governed as to validity and interpretation by the law of another jurisdiction. The contracting spouse defaults and the other party to the contract obtains a judgment on the contract. The court confronts a question about the property to which the plaintiff will have recourse to collect …

The World Moved On Without Me: Redefining Contraband In A Technology-Driven World For Youth Detained In Washington State, Stephanie A. Lowry

Seattle University Law Review

If you ask a teenager in the United States to show you one of their favorite memories, they will likely show you a picture or video on their cell phone. This is because Americans, especially teenagers, love cell phones. Ninety-seven percent of all Americans own a cell phone according to a continuously updated survey by the Pew Research Center. For teenagers aged thirteen to seventeen, the number is roughly 95%. For eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds, the number grows to 100%. On average, eight to twelve-year-old’s use roughly five and a half hours of screen media per day, in comparison to thirteen …

“What’S Past Is Prologue”: The Story Of The Sale Of The University Of Puget Sound School Of Law To Seattle University, Annette E. Clark

Seattle University Law Review

When the Seattle University Law Review editorial staff invited me to write an updated history of the Seattle University School of Law in honor of our 50th anniversary, I planned to start the narrative with the year 1989, which was where the prior written history (authored by former Law Library Director Anita Steele and published by the Law Review) had left off. It also happens to be the year when I graduated from this law school and joined the tenure-track faculty, so 1989 seemed like a propitious place to begin. However, as I began to do the research necessary to …

A Path Forward: Litigating The Treaty-Based Claims Of Children Sexually Abused In The Indian Health Service System, Peter B. Janci, Stephen F. Crew, Zachary Pangares

Seattle University Law Review

In 1855, representatives for the United States traveled to the Great Plains with orders to seek peace with Blackfoot Nation so the westward expansion of “civilized” white settlers could continue without interruption. After weeks of negotiations, the United States plan materialized. The terms of these promises were memorialized on October 17, 1855, in a treaty between the United States government and Blackfoot Nation.

One hundred and sixty-seven years later, representatives for the United States and the Blackfoot Nation convened in Rapid City, South Dakota to discuss the U.S. government’s breach of the treaty’s terms. Eight Native men, including three from …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Blood On The Tracks, Thomas D. Russell

Seattle University Law Review

Streetcars were the greatest American tortfeasors of the early twentieth century, injuring approximately one in 331 urban Americans in 1907. This empirical study presents never-before-assembled data concerning litigation involving streetcar companies in California during the early twentieth century.

This Article demonstrates the methodological folly of relying upon appellate cases to describe the world of trial court litigation. Few cases went to trial. Plaintiffs lost about half their lawsuits. When plaintiffs did win, they won very little money. Regarding the bite taken out of the street railway company, the Superior Court was a flea.

Professor Gary Schwartz and Judge Richard Posner …

The Hidden Cost Of Contracting For Esg: A New Perspective On Private Ordering, Juliet P. Kostritsky, Jillian T. Fox, Blake Spiller

Faculty Publications

Currently, despite the increasing pressure on corporations to account for Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors in their disclosures and actions, a lack of clarity on the meaning of ESG persists. ESG might be equivalent to stakeholderism, in which companies can sacrifice firm or shareholder market value to serve non-financial values. A second meaning would permit companies to pursue ESG only if it advanced the firm’s financial value. The second meaning poses no new challenges for corporate law.

This Article will address how the lack of clarity on ESG makes it difficult to assess whether a provision in a contract of …

Brief Of Law And Business Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents: Macquarie Infrastructure Group V. Moab Partners, L.P., Sarah C. Haan

Scholarly Articles

Amici are scholars at American law schools whose research and teaching focus on federal securities regulation and the governance of public corporations. Three of the authors appearing as counsel on this brief have together submitted to this Court briefs on prior occasions as amici in cases arising under the federal securities laws on behalf of law and business faculty.2 All of us have written and/or taught extensively about the SEC’s system of disclosure and our experience includes service in positions that allowed for the participation in the evolution of the system of disclosure developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. …