On January 22, expert M&A attorneys from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP shared their perspectives on M&A practice and reviewed some of the newest developments in the field. The following is a recap of their discussion, which was co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Law, Business, and the Economy (BCLBE) and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.
Recap – M&A Speaker Series: The View from New York
Regulation and the Future of Money: Mobile Payment and Virtual Currencies
What exactly is Bitcoin? You may have heard a great deal about this in the media. You may know that it is a virtual currency. You may have heard news that the evaluation of Bitcoin once skyrocketed to a record of $900. But you may not have heard an analysis of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies in the legal community.
2014 Symposium: Keynote Address from Larry Sonsini on Shareholder Activism
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.
2014 Symposium: A Bird’s–Eye View of Shareholder Activism
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
Event Recap: Systemic Risk and the Financial Crisis
On February 25, 2014, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted a lunchtime talk on Systemic Risk and the Financial Crisis by Prof. Steven L. Schwarcz. Prof. Schwarcz is a Professor of Law & Business at Duke University and is well known for his research and scholarship in the area of financial regulation and systemic risk. In his lecture, Prof. Schwarcz focused on how regulations should address systemic risk – “the risk that the failure of financial markets or firms harms the real economy by increasing the cost of capital or decreasing its availability.”
BCBLE Lecture Series: Eugene Ludwig on Putting Dodd-Frank in Context
On February 24, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCBLE) hosted a lunch presentation featuring Eugene Ludwig, founder and CEO of Promontory Financial Group. In his talk titled “Financial Regulation in the Post Reform Era: Putting Dodd-Frank in Context,” Ludwig shared his perspectives on the Dodd-Frank Act and other regulation efforts within the context of earlier cycles of crisis and reform. He discussed what the changes mean for the evolution of the American regulatory model and the transformative potential of the financial services industry.
[Upcoming Event] Systemic Risk and the Financial Crisis: Protecting the Financial System as a “System”
The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy will be hosting a lunch presentation by Professor Steven Schwarcz of Duke University School of Law on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. The event will be held at Boalt Hall 100, 12:45 – 1:45 pm. Registration is requested.
How should the law help to control systemic risk—the risk that the failure of financial markets or firms harms the real economy by increasing the cost of capital or decreasing its availability?
Recap: Is Venture Finance in China Possible?
On October 2, 2013, the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy (BCLBE) hosted a lunchtime talk on venture finance in China by Arman Zand, Senior Vice President of SPD Silicon Valley Bank in Shanghai, China. Zand, a Haas MBA (class of ‘09), spent the last four years in Shanghai establishing Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) joint venture with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD). Unlike other banks, SVB is a financial institution designed to serve entrepreneurial and early stage tech companies.
In his presentation titled “Is Venture Finance in China Possible? The View from Silicon Valley,” Zand spoke about recent developments in China’s economy, some challenges he faced in developing China’s first venture capital bank and lessons he learned along the way.
Before delving into the main issues with developing a venture capital bank in Shanghai, Zand gave a brief explanation of recent developments in China’s economy. He explained that China’s economic development is rapidly moving forward with the hopes of transitioning from a labor economy to an innovation economy that embraces SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises.
Subsequently, Zand explained some of the challenges he faced while in China, including working with Chinese banks that are primarily mortgage lenders. The majority of all bank loans in China require real assets to serve as collateral; however, entrepreneurial companies only have IP collateral: trademarks, patents, software code and the like. The lack of real estate makes venture finance “extremely challenging.”
Nevertheless, a recent development in which Shanghai announced a new free trade zone (FTZ) could create a superior environment for venture finance. (more…)
BerkeleyLaw Lecture Series: The Economic Value of a Law Degree
Is it even worth it to go to law school? The thought came before law school, and it wriggles into those moments when all that work and stress and money pile up. It could come any time: at 4 AM when you are trying to finish that last chapter; out for drinks with friends in the workforce who blithely pay for happy hour drinks without wincing at thoughts of crushing student loans; or when you discover that you didn’t get your first pick for a ‘big law’ summer associate position. Myths and misconceptions have swirled amongst the legal community and the general public, as law professors, students, and others question the value of a law degree, leading in part to plummeting application numbers for law schools around the country.
On Thursday, September 12, 2013, Berkeley Law hosted Seton Hall University business law Professor Michael Simkovic in the first event in a lunchtime series sponsored by the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy and the Berkeley Business Law Journal. Mr. Simkovic was previously an attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York concentrating in bankruptcy litigation as well as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he specialized in legal, regulatory and business issues affecting financial services companies. Professor Simkovic persuasively presents a different (and thankfully more positive) outlook for those considering whether to pursue a law degree.
At the outset, Professor Simkovic tackled empirical claims that law school offers a poor return on investment. He pointed out serious flaws in data sets being presented by those who claim that investing in a law degree is a low-value investment proposition. For example, earnings in early years are not necessarily strong predictors of subsequent earnings because law degree holders—as opposed to those holding a bachelor’s degree—see steep growth in salary over a short period of time during their first few years of work. It is also important not to conflate the recent dip in the general market with a dip solely in law. In other words, while things may look worse in the legal market than they did ten years ago, it is important contextualize with broader market conditions.
Upcoming BCLBE Event: “The Economic Value of a Law Degree”
The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy will be hosting “The Economic Value of a Law Degree” on Thursday, September 12th at 12:45p. The event is co-sponsored by the Berkeley Business Law Journal and will take place at the Boalt Hall School of Law. Registration is suggested (sign up here).
How much is a law degree worth? Prof. Simkovic will present his research into the market value of a law degree. His study, co-authored with Frank McIntyre, is one of the first to examine the issue since the financial crisis. Through US Census data and statistical techniques from labor economics, Simkovic will present his conclusions on the average lifetime earnings of a law degree compared to a bachelor’s degree. Simkovic’s methods have generated significant controversy, and an ongoing battle in the press and the academy.
Simkovic’s paper is available here, and the powerpoint presentation from the American Law & Economics Association Conference is available here. The debate between Simkovic & McIntyre and their critics can be followed on Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports.