November 2017

I’m proud to be part of this project and to have written a chapter on corporate social responsibility in Latin America that stemmed from my time in Guatemala two years ago. 

 

2018 SNX (South-North Exchange Conference)

Antigua, Guatemala

May 18-19, 2018

 

From Extraction to Emancipation: Development Reimagined 

 

Call for Papers

 

Sponsored by:

Latina & Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc. (LatCrit), the UC Davis Journal of International Law and Policy, and _________ [other sponsorships are under consideration, and please suggest your own school or program]

 

In July 2015, a delegation of law professors and lawyers from the United States and Canada traveled to Guatemala to study sustainable development. That study inspired the group to produce an edited volume, to be published in early 2018 by the ABA Section of International Law, that considers Guatemala as a case study to examine broad global themes arising from development practices in emerging economies around the world. The 2018 SNX conference provides an opportunity to continue the discussions and further engage and involve the local victims of unfettered globalization. 

 

This project offers important lessons to policy makers, corporate investors, …

A recent Pennsylvania opinion makes all sorts of mistakes with regard to a single-member limited liability company (LLC), but in dissent, at least some of the key issues are correctly framed. In an unreported opinion, the court considered whether a company (WIT Strategy) that required an individual to form an LLC as a predicate to payment was an employee eligible for unemployment compensation. WIT Strategy v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 2017 WL 5661148, at *1 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2017).  The majority explained the test for whether the worker was an employee as follows:

The burden to overcome the ‘strong presumption’ that a worker is an employee rests with the employer. To prevail, an employer must prove: (i) the worker performed his job free from the employer’s control and direction, and (ii) the worker, operating as an independent tradesman, professional or businessman, did or could perform the work for others, not just the employer.

Id. at *3. (quoting Quality Care Options v. Unemployment Comp. Bd. of Review, 57 A.3d 655, 659-60 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2012) (citations omitted; emphasis added)).

As to the first prong, the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (UCBR) determined, and the court confirmed, that WIT Strategy had retained…

Friend-of-the-BLPB Ben Edwards penned a nifty op ed that was published yesterday (Sunday, November 26) in The Wall Street Journal.  (Sorry.  It’s behind a firewall, available only to subscribers.)  It covers a subject near and dear to my heart and does so in a novel way.  Specifically, in the WSJ piece (entitled “Immigrants Need Better Protection—From Their Lawyers”) Ben deftly describes the extremely low quality representation that immigrants receive in the United States, notes the market’s inability to self-correct to remedy the situation, shares his view that “the best solution–a right to immigration counsel similar to the right to a criminal defense lawyer–” is unlikely to attract and sustain the necessary legislative support, and proposes a novel second-best solution to the problem.

In a forthcoming article in the Washington and Lee Law Review, I argue that requiring disclosure of immigration lawyers’ track records could improve the market for representation. It almost certainly would drive some of the worst out of business. Who wouldn’t shop around after discovering a lawyer ranked in the bottom 10% by client outcomes? Although no lawyer should be expected to win them all, immigrants should get nervous if their lawyer always loses.

Ben uses the concept…

The PSLRA requires that complaints alleging Section 10(b) violations plead facts that raise a “strong inference” that the defendant acted with intent or recklessness.  15 U.S.C. § 78u-4.  A “strong inference” is one that, taking into account “plausible opposing inferences,” is “at least as compelling as any opposing inference one could draw from the facts alleged.”  Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd., 551 U.S. 308 (2007).

It has long been an axiom of PSLRA pleading that a strong inference may be raised by alleging that the defendant knew his or her statements were false, or knew facts that contradicted his or her public statements.  See, e.g., Novak v. Kasaks, 216 F.3d 300 (2d Cir. 2000); Miss. Pub. Emples. Ret. Sys. v. Boston Sci. Corp., 523 F.3d 75 (1st Cir.2008); Fla. State Bd. of Admin. v. Green Tree Fin. Corp., 270 F.3d 645, 665 (8th Cir.2001); Zucco Partners, LLC v. Digimarc Corp., 552 F.3d 981 (9th Cir. 2009); Pugh v. Tribune Co., 521 F.3d 686 (7th Cir. 2008).  Indeed, allegations of actual knowledge of falsity are sufficient to plead scienter even in the context of forward-looking statements, which are subject to…

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About five months ago, on June 18, 2017, my paternal grandmother, Septima “Buddy” Holmes Porcher Murray, passed away at age 91. At the time, she was my last living grandparent.

Relevant to this blog, she also provided me a place to live during my second and third years of law school, as she transitioned, slowly on my account, from Atlanta to Charleston. 

Buddy was one of the most positive and generous people I knew. On this Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for the time I had with Buddy, and that she was able to meet and interact with her great-grandchildren a number of times.

While I am still processing her death, I have decided to post something I wrote shortly after hearing the news and also read at her funeral. These thoughts on Buddy and her life are posted below the break. Buddy’s formal obituary is posted here. 

Greetings from Barcelona. Perhaps it’s the time diference and it’s still early in the U.S. but for the first time in days I haven’t been overwhelmed with text messages from news outlets about another senator, congressman, policial candidate, actor, talk show host, porn star, or other public figure being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.  

I spent twenty years in the employment law field investigating and defending harassment claims both as outside counsel and in house. None of what I’m hearing now surprises me. I am surprised by some of the jaw dropping settlement amounts for some single-plaintiff cases.

I agree with the sentiments in this recent NPR story. Sexual harassment training often fails because employees believe it’s a check the box exercise, especially, I would imagine in states like California where it’s mandatory for certain employers every two years. More important, it fails because until now, very few men in power paid any consequences for their actions. Dov Charney of American Apparel was a notable exception of a CEO who cost the company so much in settlements that the board had to oust him. 

When I conducted training, I told employees that if they didn’t want…