Bite-Sized Business Law
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Get a breakdown of the top stories in business law from industry leaders on the front lines with Bite-Sized Business Law. Host Amy Martella takes a closer look at the latest corporate happenings through interviews with the attorneys, legal experts, public figures, and scholars behind the news to distill business law’s biggest stories into bite-sized portions.
This is your chance to go further into the world of business law and stay up to date with legal cases and industry trends.
Corporations impact us all, leading changes that extend far beyond business to shape the economy, public policy, technology, and beyond. Looking at the big picture, Amy discusses not only the underlying issues in business ethics and legal cases leading the biggest stories but also sparks thought-provoking discussions on where the law should be headed.
Amy is the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Her background ranges from big law to government to tech startups, allowing her to offer an insider’s perspective of the issues that shape corporate actions, large and small. Covering crypto regulation to securities fraud, AI’s impact to Elon Musk’s pay package, Bite-Sized Business Law covers it all with guests of varying viewpoints to provide the nuanced analysis needed to tackle complex problems.
Whether you're looking for the latest in legal insight on intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, business ethics or legal cases in the business law world, you’ll find it here. Enjoying a thoughtful perspective on the news stories of the moment, Bite-Sized Business Law examines big issues and delivers them in small doses.
Bite-Sized Business Law is a project by the Corporate Law Center at Fordham Law. The Center serves as a hub for scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students to engage in the study, discussion, and debate of current issues in corporate law. The Center focuses on aspects of corporate law, corporate compliance, antitrust law, and securities regulation. Through initiatives like the Mergers and Acquisitions seminar and the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, students actively engage in real-world research and cases, bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical application in the legal field.
Bite-Sized Business Law
William Moon on The New Concession Theory
Joining us today is William Moon, a Professor of Business Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, to discuss his essay ‘Beyond Profit Motives’ which he wrote in response to Stephen Bainbridge’s book The Profit Motive. Will reviews Bainbridge’s work, offering an alternative theory of corporate purpose beyond what Will refers to as “ruthless profit maximization for shareholders.” With expertise in business law, corporate governance, offshore finance, and private international law, Will brings a wealth of knowledge to our discussion. Tuning in you’ll learn about Will’s new concession theory, how it differs from the ideas laid out by Bainbridge, and the relationship between the ESG movement and profit maximization. Our conversation covers key areas, including the mechanics of stakeholder capitalism, why ESG goals can be accomplished through enhanced legal compliance and obedience, and how to better align the interests of corporations with societal interests. Listeners should check out our interview of Bainbridge back in May 2023 to help them understand Will’s critiques. To hear all of Will’s insights on his new concession theory and The Profit Motive be sure to tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
•Professor William Moon’s review of Stephen Bainbridge’s book, The Profit Motive.
•What inspired him to write ‘Beyond Profit Motives’ in response to The Profit Motive.
•An overview of Milton Friedman’s article from 1970 entitled ‘A Friedman Doctrine ‐- The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits’.
•Examining whether there is a true conflict between long-term shareholder profit maximization and achieving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
•Will’s argument against Professor Bainbridge’s conviction that stakeholder capitalism is fundamentally anti-democratic.
•An outline of stakeholder capitalism and the different versions of it.
•Will’s new concession theory as laid out in his article.
•How the new concession theory can support ESG goals.
•Why ESG goals can be accomplished through enhanced legal compliance and obedience.
•Corporations’ ability to evade laws and the state’s ability to enact laws in response.
•Blockchain-based business entities; what types of laws and regulations they are asking for.
•Why the new concession theory mostly applies to large business enterprises.
•Takeaways from the McDonald’s Caremark case and verdict.
•Unpacking the ESG movement’s biggest accomplishments and areas for improvement.
•A rundown of the topics to be explored in conversation with the new concession theory.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
A Friedman doctrine‐- The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits
Elizabeth Warren
Business Roundtable