By Lucian Bebchuk of Harvard Law School This article and a response by Martin Lipton of Wachtell Lipton originally posted on Harvard Law's corporate governance blog. Note from Shareholder Rights Project: Lucian Bebchuk is the Director of the Shareholder Rights Project (SRP). The SRP, a clinical program operating at Harvard Law School, works on behalf of public pension funds and charitable organizations seeking to improve corporate governance at publicly traded companies, as well as on research and policy … [Read more...]
The Lawdragon Law School Survey!
March 21, 2013 By
Lawdragon is proud to announce the release of The Lawdragon Law School Survey. Our survey is open to all lawyers and law students to measure their satisfaction with the preparation they received at their law school. Additionally, the survey will allow measurement of career achievement throughout the profession - not just at major law firms. Are judges educated at Harvard Law School more satisfied with their education than employment lawyers who studied at Cornell? Do Los Angeles plaintiff lawyers who studied at Duke wish they had gone to Loyola … [Read more...]
Wachtell Memo Hits Activist Hedge Funds
March 10, 2013 By
By Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz Important Questions About Activist Hedge Funds In what can only be considered a form of extortion, activist hedge funds are preying on American corporations to create short-term increases in the market price of their stock at the expense of long-term value. Prominent academics are serving the narrow interests of activist hedge funds by arguing that the activists perform an important service by uncovering “under-valued” or “under-managed” corporations and marshaling the voting … [Read more...]
How Buckley v. Valeo May Help The CFPB
February 22, 2013 By
By Jason Parsont From Columbia Law's Blue Sky Blog on Corporations and Capital Markets On Jan. 25, the D.C. Circuit issued a controversial decision in the Noel Canning case.[1] The Court invalidated three of President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board after finding that the President overreached in making the appointments without Senate confirmation. The holding implies that the President’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray, as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau … [Read more...]
U.S. Supreme Court Recess Ends
February 20, 2013 By
The U.S. Supreme Court ‘s winter recess ended with a bang this week, with opinions on a range of topics and the court agreeing to take on another campaign finance case. As veteran reporter Tony Mauro recounted for the National Law Journal, Chief Justice John Roberts went to the press room on Tuesday to tell any reporters who had scheduled a lunch that day that they “might want to push it back.” The high court issued opinions on international custody disputes, police searches and antitrust matters, but the biggest news was … [Read more...]
Cravath Nabs Head of USPTO
February 6, 2013 By
Cravath has hired the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, David J. Kappos. The hire is the second major addition from the Obama Administration for the firm, following last year's addition of Christine A. Varney, head of antitrust for the administration. The New York Time's Deal Book has a glowing take on the hires. The firm has become legendary for its patent work since its founding in 1819. "In the 19th century, the firm handled the electric light bulb patent litigation for Thomas Edison and the telegraph patent … [Read more...]
LA Archdiocese to Release Names in Abuse Cases
January 31, 2013 By
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to release unredacted files showing the names of church leaders who made decisions that left abusive priests in positions of further harming children. The Associated Press reported the decision noting that 30,000 personnel files could be released in the next few weeks. Ray Boucher of Kiesel & Larson in Los Angeles, who made our 2012 Lawdragon 500 guide, has fought an epic battle with the church for the files, following his role securing a $660 million settlement for … [Read more...]
Skadden Releases Insights 2013
January 22, 2013 By
Introduction to Skadden Insights 2013 (View the complete publication.) By Eric Friedman We are pleased to provide a collection of commentaries on the critical legal issues facing our clients in 2013. There is hope that global economic and market conditions will continue to improve despite ongoing challenges. Lingering discord in the wake of the U.S. fiscal cliff negotia- tions, the mire of Europe's debt crisis and concern over the pace of recovery in Asia all have contributed significantly to the uncertainty felt by businesses globally. … [Read more...]
Law Schools of the Lawdragon 500
January 10, 2013 By
Our seventh annual Lawdragon 500 represents the best of the best, from Supreme Court justices to Fortune 500 General Counsel, White House counsel to law firm leaders and superstars of the plaintiff bar. As such, it's an interesting proxy of which law schools produce the standouts of the legal profession. This year's #1 law school is Harvard, which ran away with the list with 71 alum featured. Those include: 5 U.S. Supreme Court justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts; the general counsel of KKR, Blackstone, Clorox and Twitter; … [Read more...]
Dickinson Wright Merges With Mariscal
January 3, 2013 By
Dickinson Wright, one of the most prominent firms in Michigan, has merged with Phoenix-based Mariscal Weeks. Among the leading attorneys at Dickinson Wright is Dennis Archer, former ABA President, Michigan Supreme Court Justice and Mayor of Detroit. Perhaps it's no coincidence that Archer is the Chairman of the Board of the Phoenix School of Law, the first private law school in Arizona. The addition of the 60 Mariscal Weeks lawyers brings to approximately 350 the lawyer corps at Dickinson Wright, according to Crain's Detroit Business. … [Read more...]
