Business Associations

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5th Conference of the French Academy of Legal Studies in Business (Association Française Droit et Management)

June 20 and 21, 2019 – emlyon – Paris Campus

CALL FOR PAPERS 2019 Social Issues in Firms

Social issues and fundamental rights occupy an increasingly important space in the governance of today’s companies. Private enterprises assume an increasingly active role not only in a given economy but also in society as a whole. Firms become themselves citizens. They recognize and support civic engagement by the men and women who work for them. Historically, the role of the modern firm that resulted from the Industrial Revolution has been torn between two opposing viewpoints.

[More information under the break.]

BLPB reader Tom N. sent me a link to this article last week by email.  The article covers Elon Musk’s taunting of the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a post on Twitter.  The post followed on the SEC’s settlement with Musk and Tesla, Inc. of a legal action relating to a prior Twitter post. The title of Tom N.’s message?  “Musk Pokes the Bear in the Eye.”  Exactly what I was thinking (and I told him so) when I had read the same article earlier that day!  This post is dedicated to Tom N. (and the rest of you who have been following the Musk affair).

Last week, I wrote about scienter issues in the securities fraud allegations against Elon Musk, following on Ann Lipton’s earlier post on materiality in the same context.  This week, I want to focus on state corporate law–specifically, fiduciary duty law.  The idea for this post arises from a quotation in the article Tom N. and I read last week.  The quotation relates to an order from the judge in the SEC’s action against Musk and Tesla, Alison Nathan, that the parties jointly explain and justify the fairness and reasonableness of their settlement…

I may update this list from time to time; feel free to e-mail me with additions. Looks like a pretty strong hiring season for business law. Updated 12/04/18.

Law School Professor Positions – Business Specialty Sought

  1. Barry University 
  2. Belmont University
  3. Campbell University
  4. Cardozo
  5. Case Western University
  6. Duke University
  7. Drake University (Director of the Entrepreneurial/Transactional Law Clinic)
  8. Drake University (Assistant, Associate, or Professor of Law)
  9. Drexel University
  10. Emory University
  11. Florida A&M University 
  12. Louisiana State University
  13. Mercer University 
  14. Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  15. Saint John’s University
  16. Seton Hall University
  17. Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Professor of Practice) (9/17/18 deadline or until filled)
  18. University of Alabama
  19. University of Arizona (International Business Law Focus) (Review begins 9/28/18)
  20. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
  21. University of Buffalo
  22. University of California, Berkeley (initial review 8/15/18; accepted through 3/1/19)
  23. University of California, Davis
  24. University of California, Irvine
  25. University of Connecticut
  26. University of Kentucky
  27. University of Louisville
  28. University of Miami
  29. University of Nebraska
  30. University of New Mexico (Oil & Gas Focus)
  31. University of North Texas at Dallas
  32. University of Oregon (Business Law Clinic)
  33. University of Pittsburgh
  34. University of Richmond
  35. University of Saint Thomas (Miami)
  36. University of South Carolina
  37. University of Wyoming 
  38. Washington & Lee University
  39. Washington University (St.

…

Are corporations (and other business associations) political actors?  Of course.  Some of Marcia’s posts here on the BLPB have raised, for example, questions about the use of boycotts as firm political activity.  See, e.g., here.  Marcia also pointed out here that National Football League teams (typically owned by and operated through some form of business association) have been caught up in political activity surrounding the players-kneeling-during-the-national-anthem controversy.

The Vanderbilt Law Review has recently published an essay on the political corporation written by a Dream Team of sorts–two friends who are married to each other–at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Susan Kuo and Ben Means.  Susan teaches advocacy and dispute resolution courses (currently focusing on criminal law and procedure, conflicts, and social justice issues) and is the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion.  Ben is likely known to many BLPB readers as a business law guy (with a special focus on small and family owned busnesses). He’s been a member of the executive committee for the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Business Associations and is past chair of the AALS Section on Agency, Partnership, LLCs, and Unincorporated Business Associations.  They bring their individual…

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Assistant Professor of Business Law.

Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.

The Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan seeks applicants for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level in the Business Law Area starting in the Fall 2019 term. The selected candidate’s primary teaching responsibilities will be to teach business law in the undergraduate (BBA) program but may be required to teach in any of the school’s degree programs. The candidate will be expected to produce high-quality research published in leading law reviews and/or business journals.

Qualified candidates must have earned a J.D. from an ABA accredited law school. The candidate must have an excellent academic record and demonstrate a strong interest, and ability, in conducting high-quality, scholarly research in an area relevant to business. Examples of such fields include, but are not limited to, corporate law, contract law, employment law, financial regulation, securities law, intellectual property, and international trade. A qualified candidate must also demonstrate excellence in university teaching or the potential to be an outstanding teacher in business law.

The review of applications will begin immediately. All applications received before October 15, 2018, will receive full consideration. However, applications received after…

The following comes to us from Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, Visiting Assistant Professor of Law and Assistant Director, Clarke Program on Corporations & Society, Cornell Law School.  I had the pleasure of listening to Sergio discuss this project at our recent SEALS discussion group on Masterpiece Cakeshop, and I found particularly interesting his conclusion that “Roman slaves could not own property, but ius naturale provided them with the right to exercise religion. To the contrary, Roman corporations could contract, own assets and bear liabilities, but they had no exercise rights as religion liberties were typical of personae—physically sound humans.”  The concept of robo-directors is also fascinating, and adds another layer to my ongoing dystopian (utopian?) novel plot wherein corporations are allowed to run for seats in Congress directly (as opposed to what some would argue is the current system wherein we get: “The Senator from [X], sponsored by Big Pharma Corp.”). You can download the full draft via SSRN here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3232816.

In an era where legal persons hold wealth and power comparable to those of nation states, shedding light on the nature of the corporate form and on the rights of business corporations is crucial for defining the…

On Tuesday, Elizabeth Warren penned an article in The Wall Street Journal entitled Companies Shouldn’t Be Accountable Only to Shareholders: My new bill would require corporations to answer to employees and other stakeholders as well.

The article announced and promoted her Accountable Capitalism Act. With Republicans in control of Congress and the White House, Warren’s bill almost certainly doesn’t stand a chance of passing in the short-term.

Yet, because the bill draws on benefit corporation governance, a main scholarly interest of mine, and because it may foreshadow moves by a Democrat-controlled Congress in the future, I decided to read the 28-page bill and report here briefly.

Portions of the bill summarized:

  • As has been widely reported, the bill only applies to companies with more than $1 billion in revenue.
  • The bill seeks to establish an “Office of United States Corporations” within the Department of Commerce, which will review, grant, and rescind charters for the large companies covered by the bill.
  • The bill takes language from benefit corporation law and requires that U.S. Corporations must have a purpose to serve a “general public benefit” – “a material positive impact on society resulting from the business and operations of

…

The University of Miami School of Law seeks entry-level and tenured candidates to join our intellectual community beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year. While these faculty hires are open to a variety of teaching and scholarly interests, the Law School has particular needs in Environmental Law and Business Law.
 
The Law School is committed to diversity of all kinds in its faculty, students, and staff and encourages applications from candidates who will increase the diversity of the Miami Law community.  The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, disability, religion, age, status in the uniformed services of the United States (including veteran status), marital status, status as a victim of domestic violence, citizenship status, genetic predisposition, carrier status, or any other classification protected under federal, state, or local law.
 
Entry-level applicants are encouraged to use the AALS submission process to apply.  Lateral applicants may submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, draft work-in-progress, and teaching evaluations (if available) in PDF format to Professor Drew Dawson, Chair, Faculty Appointments Committee, at adawson@law.miami.edu.

Nebraska

Details on another excellent business law professor position are posted below.

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Entry-Level or Experienced Faculty Position

The UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA COLLEGE OF LAW invites applications for entry-level and lateral candidates for two tenure-track or tenured faculty positions.

Our primary areas of interest are Civil Procedure, Business Associations, and other business law courses, including, but not limited to, Corporate Finance, Securities Regulation, Corporate Governance, Non-Profit Organizations, and Transactional Drafting.

Other needs include courses related to

  • Health Care (g., Federal Regulation of Health Care Providers, Health Care Finance, Administrative Law, Medical Malpractice, Privacy Law, Law and Medicine, Public Health Law, Bioethics and the Law, and the Law of Provider and Patient);
  • Litigation Skills and Related Courses (g., Trial Advocacy, Civil Rights Litigation, Conflicts of Law, Remedies, Pretrial Litigation, and other litigation skills courses);
  • Criminal Law (g., Federal Criminal Law, White Collar Crime, Post­Conviction Remedies, and Criminal Sentencing);
  • Environmental Law (g., Environmental Law, Water Law, and Natural Resources Law);
  • Family Law; and
  • Election Law.

Minimum required qualifications include a J.D. Degree or equivalent, superior academic record, and a demonstrated interest in relevant substantive areas. The title of Assistant or Associate Professor will…