It is nice to be here!

Elizabeth Nowicki —  16 May 2006

“A [] party!  I’m so glad I wore my pretty dress!�
(I will mail a University of Richmond Law School mug to the first person who can identify the speaker and origin of the above quote.)

I am leading off my first Truth On The Market post with such a festive quote because I am delighted to be here, blogging, for the next two weeks.  To me, this is an academic party!  I get to blog on topics of my choosing, to whatever end delights me, among folks who are experts in their fields.  This is absolutely an intellectual party, and I thank Bill and his colleagues for inviting me!

My plan is to spend the next couple of weeks here testing out some of my scholarship-related ideas.  I have no plan to blog about WSJ articles or announced deals – in large part b/c there are other folks out there doing that sort of blogging – but I reserve the right to revisit my position, particularly if something uniquely interesting comes down the pike.  For those of you who like to plan ahead, the list below covers the topics I hope to address, time and interest permitting:

1.  Bausch & Lomb’s recent eye care “situation�

2.  Merrill Lynch v. Dabit:  Is there *any* way around this nightmare?

3.  Why are we afraid to call directors to task?

4.  Sue, sue, sue – Fairness Opinions and Executive Compensation

5.  My experience with a non-profit organization:  A model of failed institutional governance?

6.  The lies we believe about the duty of care. . . .Â

7.  Martha Stewart, revisited

8.  Prostitution

9.  Professor Hoffman’s article on rational (or not) shareholders

10.  A director’s obligation to act “in good faith�

In advance of my first substantive post, the lawyer in me (actually, the untenured professor in me) feels obligated to say the following:  I often articulate things with my tongue firmly in cheek.  Mind you, I realize that that does not necessarily always work well on the interweb.  However, I refuse to give up the hope that even folks who have never met me will somehow be able to ascertain the true “tenorâ€? of my posts.  To that end, let us agree in advance that if you are ever unclear as to how I am intending for a post to come across, and you are teetering on the verge of taking umbrage, you will first e-mail me to see if I really was intending to “sayâ€? that which you were hearing.  Thanks.Â

I will be back in a bit with my first substantive post.  Please hold.  And thank you, again, to Bill and his fellow founders for inviting me to this party!

6 responses to It is nice to be here!

  1. 
    Elizabeth Nowicki 19 May 2006 at 2:56 pm

    Joe – Yes – you got it!! Carol Kane in “Scrooged!” How did you know that? I figured my mother was the only person in the world to have memorized most of the lines from Scrooged.

    Wait a minute. . . . I see you have no last name, “Joe.” . . . Or should I call you “Mom”? (Actually, I doubt my mother would ever make it this far into the internet. And she all ready has a Richmond mug. Joe, please e-mail to me (enowicki at richmond dot edu) your address. You deserve the mug!)

    Many thanks to Joe and David Zaring for their outstanding participation.

  2. 

    I need no mug, but I like Carol Kane too.

  3. 

    Um, will you mail me a mug if I say the Sims? And non-profit organizations in the higher education sector rock.

  4. 

    Topic 9 is, I think, the most interesting.

  5. 

    Welcome!

  6. 
    Thom Lambert 16 May 2006 at 8:26 am

    Welcome to the party! Those topics look great.