Showing archive for: “Common Law”
Richard Painter on Litigation Financing and Insurance
Fifteen years ago I published an article urging that non-lawyers be allowed to finance the cost of legal representation in return for a percentage of a judgment or settlement if the plaintiff is successful. Common law prohibitions on champerty were widely believed at the time to prohibit third parties from buying an interest in litigation. ... Richard Painter on Litigation Financing and Insurance
Delaware bans LLC creditor derivative suits
On Friday the Delaware Supreme Court decided the important case of CML V, LLC v. Bax (see Francis Pileggi’s helpful summary). The court, per CJ Steele, held that a creditor lacks standing to sue an insolvent LLC derivatively. The court reasoned that when the Delaware LLC Act says in §18-1002 that a plaintiff in an ... Delaware bans LLC creditor derivative suits
Against expanding the ALI
Eric Gerding, commenting on a post by his co-blogger Gordon Smith, wonders if the ALI should veer from its core task of restating the common law into such regulatory subjects as corporate criminal liability, copyright, financial regulation, cyberlaw and international consumer protection. Erik suggests that the ALI “assemble a pool of experts on given regulatory ... Against expanding the ALI
Paul Rubin joins TOTM
You may have noticed the newest member of the TOTM Team. We’re very proud to welcome Paul Rubin, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Economics at Emory University and one of the leading figures in law and economics. Paul has written seminal articles on, among other subjects, the forces shaping the common law, franchising, and ... Paul Rubin joins TOTM
The constitutional privacy rights of business entities
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion by Justice Roberts, held in FCC v. ATT, Inc.: We reject the argument that because “person” is defined for purposes of FOIA to include a corporation, the phrase “personal privacy” in Exemption 7(C) reaches corporations as well. The protection in FOIA against disclosure of law enforcement information on ... The constitutional privacy rights of business entities
Unconscionability for corporate law
So you thought unconscionability was for furniture stores? Larry Cunningham has news for you: This Article explains why and how traditional contract law’s theory of unconscionability should be used to create a modicum of judicial scrutiny to strike obnoxious pay contracts and preserve legitimate ones. Under this proposal, pay contracts that are the product of ... Unconscionability for corporate law
The SEC recommends broker-dealer fiduciary duties
The SEC staff, acting under Dodd-Frank §913(g), has decided to recommend a “uniform fiduciary standard” for broker-dealers and investment advisors who provide investment advice to retail customers. The recommended rules would provide that the standard of conduct for all brokers, dealers, and investment advisers, when providing personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers (and ... The SEC recommends broker-dealer fiduciary duties
Ginsburg and Wright on Behavioral Law and Economics: the Never-Ending Quest for a Third Way
In the brave new world contemplated by the advocates of government policies informed by behavioral law and economics, many more aspects of each individual’s life will be regulated, or more stringently regulated, than at present. Within the legal academy, the growth of the behavioral law and economics movement has been dramatic. Surveying all legal publications ... Ginsburg and Wright on Behavioral Law and Economics: the Never-Ending Quest for a Third Way
Claire Hill on The Promise of Behavioral Law and Economics
I want to challenge what seems to be a premise of this symposium: that much of the behavioral “contribution” to economics is about people’s “mistakes” (either cognitive mistakes or “weakness of the will”) and the consequent need for paternalistic intervention. I think the behavioral perspective has much more to offer; I also think that the ... Claire Hill on The Promise of Behavioral Law and Economics
Richard Epstein on The Dangerous Allure of Behavioral Economics: The Relationship between Physical and Financial Products
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University School of Law, The Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, and the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, The University of Chicago. Few academic publications have had as much direct public influence on the law as ... Richard Epstein on The Dangerous Allure of Behavioral Economics: The Relationship between Physical and Financial Products
Business Law and the Austrian Theory of the Firm
My Missouri colleague, Peter Klein, of Organizations and Markets fame (and, like Larry, a proud non-voter), has been asked to contribute a book chapter on the Austrian theory of the firm and the law. Peter, who has written extensively on the Austrian theory of the firm and maintains an online bibliography on the subject, is ... Business Law and the Austrian Theory of the Firm
Antitrust and Congress
Last Thursday and Friday, I attended a conference at Case Western Law School on the Roberts Court’s business law decisions. I presented a paper on the Court’s antitrust decisions. (The paper, described here, is now available on SSRN.) Adam Pritchard, Matt Bodie, and Brian Fitzpatrick presented papers considering the Court’s treatment of, respectively, securities law, ... Antitrust and Congress
