BCLBE

2014 Symposium: Keynote Address from Larry Sonsini on Shareholder Activism

By Valerie Jon Ramos, J.D. Candidate 2015 | Posted on

During the 2014 BCLBE and BBLJ Shareholder Activism Symposium, Larry Sonsini delivered the keynote address directed  at the change in the activist climate and how this change should be interpreted.

“Shareholder activism will be around for a while,” Sonsini declared because there has been a shift from a director-centric model to a shareholder-centric model. In this shareholder-centric model, shareholder activists agendas’ have become broader.  They are no longer only concerned with battles over defensive measures (e.g., poison pills and staggered boards) and CEO successions, but are now addressing corporate sustainability—taking into account social, environmental, economic, and governmental measures—and are attacking companies on their merits.

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2014 Symposium: Panel Explores the Hot Button Issues Surrounding Shareholder Activism

By Nahal Bahri, J.D. Candidate 2015 | Posted on

On Friday April 4, the Berkeley Business Law Journal and the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy hosted the 2014 Symposium on Shareholder Activism. With the rise in shareholder activism in publicly traded companies, activist campaigns are  “perceived by various stakeholders as threats to be avoided, part of the current landscape, and powerful sources motivating social responsibility.” The Symposium explored this topic through hosting panel discussions with regulators, attorneys, academics and business professionals all sharing their thoughts on shareholder activism.

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2014 Symposium: A Bird’s–Eye View of Shareholder Activism

By Valerie Jon Ramos, J.D. Candidate 2015 | Posted on

From the first panel of the 2014 BCBLE and BBLJ Shareholder Activism Symposium: Three professors give a “bird’s-eye view” of shareholder activism.

Panelist:

  • Eric Talley, UC Berkeley, School of Law
  • Paul Rose, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law
  • Adair Mores, UC Berkeley, Hass, School of Business
  • Moderator: Joseph Santiesteban, Berkeley Business Law Journal

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2014 Symposium: A Panelist’s Review of Shareholder Activism Discussion

By Lawrence A. Hamermesh, The Institute of Delaware Corporate and Business Law | Posted on

Eric Talley at Berkeley, and the Berkeley Business Law Journal, put together a great conference on April 4, 2014 on shareholder activism, and I scratched out the following thoughts for our panel.  We were supposed to talk about the prospects for further regulatory and legal developments governing or motivating shareholder activism.  First, though, consider what legal rules facilitate activism – and when you do that, you discover that any change is likely to be marginal at best.  Given my working definition of shareholder activism – using share ownership to promote concerted action, by large numbers of shareholders, to exercise the legal rights of shares – the following are key legal rules that enable this to occur.

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BCBLE Lecture Series: Compliance Risks and Pitfalls in China

By Yoona Kim, Class of 2016 | Posted on

On March 18, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCBLE) hosted a lunch presentation by Gregory C. Wajnowski, GE’s Managing Director of Mergers & Acquisitions and Chief Supervisor of Joint Ventures for GE Energy in Greater China and Mongolia. Wajnowski’s lecture on the “Compliance Risks and Pitfalls in China” provided an overview of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and its implications for doing business in China. Wajnowski explained how companies could manage risk and compete effectively within the confines of the FCPA and other domestic regulations.

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Congratulations to Berkeley Law and Haas Business School Joint Venture Competition Finalists

By Valerie Ramos, J.D. Candidate 2015 | Posted on

Congratulations to Team 1 and Team 12 for placing first and second, respectively, in the Berkeley Law and Haas Business School Joint Venture Competition. This was the first year Berkeley offered this competition, and the Berkeley Law Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCBLE) plans to continue running this competition annually.

The finalist teams were composed of the following Haas and Berkeley Law students:

Team 1: Ben Bradbury, Mary Loum, Arkadiusz Malinowski, and Kim McGinnis

Team 12: Zane Keller, Steven McCarty, and Sam Wang

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