July 2021

I noted in a January post that Professor Mihailis E. Diamantis and I are joining Professors J. Kelly Strader, and Sandra D. Jordan as co-authors of the 4th edition of White Collar Crime: Cases, Materials, and Problems. I am pleased to announce that the text is now available for fall 2021 adoption, and instructors can request an electronic copy for immediate review here. Here is a description of the new edition:

White Collar Crime: Cases, Materials, and Problems is a unique, problems-focused approach to teaching and learning about federal white collar crime. The authors draw from their practice experience in prosecuting and defending white collar crime cases to present both foundational and current issues of law, policy, and theory as they arise in statutes and cases. The text includes:

  • Comprehensive coverage of the substantive law of various white collar crimes (topics include conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, computer crimes, bribery, extortion, perjury, false statements, obstruction of justice, tax fraud, currency transaction reporting crimes, money laundering, and RICO);
  • Chapters dedicated to the practical and procedural issues that typically arise in, and often are unique to, white collar cases (topics include internal investigations, compliance programs, civil actions

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A little while ago, Anthony Rickey and I published an article looking at the settlement approval process in class actions with a particular focus on the State Street Case.  Our article noticed that Judge Wolf found that class counsel made deceptive, less than fully candid statements when it submitted hourly rates to a court which no client had ever actually paid:

In theory, a vigorous lead plaintiff actively supervises its lead counsel, examining fee requests to maximize the portion of the settlement retained by the class. The efforts that ATRS undertook to supervise its class counsel remain unclear, but they do not seem to have been effective. In the State Street litigation, Judge Wolf harshly criticized Thornton for declaring, under oath, that one attorney’s regular rate was $500 per hour, when the firm could only identify one case in which that attorney had been charged at even $300 per hour. He similarly noted that Labaton submitted as “regular rates” for services hourly rates that had “never been charged to paying clients.” ATRS did not volunteer these facts. They were only discovered because the State Street court took the apparently unprecedented step of appointing a special master to investigate.(footnotes omitted) 

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“Set me free from the laziness that goes about disguised as activity when activity is not required of me, and from cowardice that does what is not demanded in order to escape sacrifice.” Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation (p. 47). 

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Countless people reminded me how lucky I was to have my first sabbatical this past spring semester. 

And I acknowledge my good fortune, not only for the change of pace, but also for the break during a difficult year. 

But there was something uncomfortable about this past semester. I missed the classroom. I missed my colleagues and students. I missed my office. I missed my office calendar with multiple defined events scheduled throughout the day. I even missed my commute and faculty meetings. I missed–believe it or not–busyness. 

While I had an endless amount of research and childcare responsibilities last semester, I realized that this was likely the least scheduled I’ve been since early childhood. For the first time that I can remember, I wasn’t constantly thinking about the next thing on my calendar. 

I have always been fairly future oriented, and I think legal training makes you even more focused on the future. Good …

In 2008, my university (Belmont University) was supposedly the first to offer a social entrepreneurship major. Since then, not only have the schools offering majors in social entrepreneurships grown, but many schools have created centers, institutes, or programs dedicated to the area. Below I try to gather these social enterprise centers in universities. The vast majority are in business schools, some are collaborative across campus, and a few are located in other schools such as law, social work, or design. A few have a specifically religious take on business and social good. Happy to update this list with any centers I missed. 

Lewis Institute at Babson https://www.babson.edu/academics/centers-and-institutes/the-lewis-institute/about/# 

Christian Collective for Social Innovation at Baylor https://www.baylor.edu/externalaffairs/compassion/index.php?id=976437

Center for Social Innovation at Boston College https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/schools/ssw/sites/center-for-social-innovation/about/

Watt Family Innovation Center at Clemson https://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/watt/

Center for the Integration of Faith and Work at Dayton https://udayton.edu/business/experiential_learning/centers/cifw/index.php

CASE i3 at Duke https://sites.duke.edu/casei3/

Social Innovation Collaboratory at Fordham https://www.fordham.edu/info/23746/social_innovation_collaboratory

Social Enterprise & Nonprofit Clinic at Georgetown  https://www.law.georgetown.edu/experiential-learning/clinics/social-enterprise-and-nonprofit-clinic/

and Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation at Georgetown https://beeckcenter.georgetown.edu

Global Social Entrepreneurship Institute at Indiana https://kelley.iu.edu/faculty-research/centers-institutes/international-business/programs-initiatives/global-social-entrepreneurship-institute/

Business + Impact at Michigan https://businessimpact.umich.edu

Social Enterprise Institute at Northeastern https://www.northeastern.edu/sei/

Center for Ethics and Religious…

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OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Journal of Law and Political Economy is delighted to announce an open call for submissions to Volumes 2 and 3.

WHO WE ARE

JLPE is an online, peer-reviewed journal published three times yearly, supported by the University of California’s eScholarship platform, https://escholarship.org/uc/lawandpoliticaleconomy. As the “house journal” of the pathbreaking Law and Political Economy movement, our sister organizations include ClassCrits, Inc. (classcrits.org), the Law and Political Economy Project (lpeproject.org), and the Association for the Promotion of Political Economy and Law (APPEAL, politicaleconomylaw.org). Our Editorial and Advisory Boards consist of distinguished, nationally and internationally known scholars drawn widely from law, the social sciences, and the humanities.

With the conviction that conventional Law and Economics is inadequate to the multiple and overlapping crises of our time, JLPE seeks to promote multi- and interdisciplinary analyses of the mutually constitutive interactions among law, society, institutions, and politics. Our central goal is to explore power in all its manifestations (race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, global inequality, etc.) and the relationship of law to power. Accordingly, JLPE aims to provide an academic and practical resource for, and to foster discussion among, scholars, activists, and educators from countries around the world to…

In June, the Ninth Circuit handed down its opinion in Meland v. Weber, holding that an individual shareholder of OSI Systems had standing to challenge California’s board diversity law, which mandates that publicly-traded companies with headquarters in the state appoint a certain number of women directors.

The shareholder is claiming that the mandate violates the 14th Amendment, and the Meland opinion naturally doesn’t engage that; the question before the Ninth Circuit was simply whether the shareholder can sue.

To find standing, the court had to make two necessary findings: first, that the law actually operated on the shareholder, i.e., it demanded some kind of action or behavior from the shareholder despite being targeted to corporate boards (what the Ninth Circuit called being the “object” of the law); and second, that there was a cognizable injury to the shareholder, i.e., some kind of threat to the shareholder personally if OSI Systems did not comply.

With respect to both findings, the connections that the court found between the law and the shareholder’s injury were, shall we say, attenuated.

As for the first finding, that the law operates on the shareholder, the essence of the plaintiff’s claim is…

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS SCHOOL OF LAW invites applications from entry-level and experienced candidates for two positions to begin July 1, 2022. Our hiring needs are flexible, but we have especially strong needs in torts, civil procedure, intellectual property, evidence, and business law. We seek candidates with scholarly distinction or promise, as well as a commitment to excellence in teaching. Candidates must hold a J.D., Ph.D., or equivalent degree by the date of their application. All candidates must apply through the UC Recruit system at the following link: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF04244.

In addition, as part of their application, candidates must include a Statement of Contributions to Diversity. Information about the Statement can be found at http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/diversity/equity_inclusion/diversity_statements_writing/.

For full consideration, applicants should apply by Sept. 1, 2021, although we recommend that you submit your materials as soon as possible. Candidates must have a J.D. or equivalent degree. We require a cover letter, curriculum vitae, research agenda, teaching evaluations and/or transcripts, writing sample, and contact information for three (3) references at this time. Please note that we may require further documentation at a future date, including, but not limited to, letters of recommendation, which will be treated as confidential per University of California…

This just in from newly minted Northwestern Law Dean Hari Osofsky:

I am hiring a Climate and Energy Fellow to work under my supervision at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law on a variety of climate change and energy projects. The fellowship is ideal for someone planning on entering legal academia as it will provide opportunities for publishing and for mentoring on the academic market. It also would be good preparation for work in climate change or energy law and policy.

I’d be grateful if you would share the opportunity with your networks. Full position description and link to apply: https://careers.northwestern.edu/psp/hr857prd_er/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST_FL&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=1&JobOpeningId=41064&PostingSeq=1

FINRA recently posted a regulatory notice seeking information on whether it should consider changes to “rules, operations and administrative processes that may create unintended barriers to greater diversity and inclusion in the broker-dealer industry or that might have unintended disparate impacts on those within the industry.”  Drexel’s Nicole Iannarone, who is currently chair of FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee submitted a thoughtful letter.  As her letter explains, she’s particularly well-situated consider these issues:

My interest in this issue and its application to the FINRA arbitration forum is both professional and personal. I am a law professor who teaches business and securities law courses. My recent scholarship focuses specifically on consumer investors’ experiences in FINRA arbitration.3 I previously directed a law school securities arbitration clinic and supervised law students representing investors with smaller claims against their brokers in the FINRA arbitration forum. I am the chair of FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC). I am also a Mexican-American woman with her own non-retirement investment accounts. These experiences provide me a unique lens through which to view FINRA’s diversity and inclusion efforts as they relate to the FINRA Dispute Resolution forum. 

She rightly highlights that arbitrator diversity has…