John C. Coffee, Jr.
The Globalization of Securities Litigation
Europe (and much of the rest of the world) have long been skeptical of American-style opt-out class actions in which the plaintiff’s attorney defines the scope of the class. Similarly, they have prohibited the contingent fee, discouraged punitive damages, insisted …
Adventures in Corporate Governance: Guarding the Internet
Academics who profess expertise in corporate governance sometimes find themselves on very strange turf. That has been my status for the last two years, serving as an adviser to the U.S. Commerce Department in connection with the Obama Administration’s efforts …
Volkswagen and the Culture of Silence
Since the Volkswagen story first broke in September 2015, most observers have just scratched their heads and muttered to themselves in amazement: “What were they thinking? How could you place ‘defeat devices’ in 11 million cars worldwide and expect that …
The Supreme Court “Saves” the Class Action: Complex Litigation After Scalia
Just six months ago, when the Supreme Court’s current term opened in October, things looked bleak for the class action. Three major cases were on the Court’s docket, and each seemed handpicked as a vehicle for the Court’s conservatives to …
Hedge Fund Activism: A Guide for the Perplexed
The message of the Dow/DuPont merger and split up is simple: No firm is today “too big to target.” Activists can see the transaction as evidence that, even in the rare case where they lose a proxy fight (as they …
On Thin Ice: Climate Change, Exxon, the NYAG and the Martin Act
The New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman, created a stir this month by opening an investigation of Exxon Mobil Corp. pursuant to the Martin Act (New York’s “Blue Sky” Statute).[1] Various Congressmen, Senators and environmental groups also asked …
Backstabbing in Washington: The Curious Case of the PCAOB
Washington is a strange town! The more you succeed, the more you attract enemies. If you outperform all prior occupants of your office, behave like a model gentleman, and achieve what no one thought possible, that will make you a …
News From California: The 9th Circuit and the SEC Challenge New York
This column will focus on two new and unrelated developments linked only by the fact that they both emanate from California: (1) the Ninth Circuit has handed down a significant decision on insider trading—United States v. Salman[1]—that disagrees …
The AIG Case: Moral Hazard on Steroids!
The AIG decision (actually, Starr International Co. v. The United States[1]) has shocked many but for the wrong reason. Some commentators have focused on the ingratitude of Maurice Greenberg, AIG’s former CEO and the “architect” of its international …
The Lessons of DuPont: Corporate Governance For Dummies
Among practitioners, it is a customary cliché to say that all proxy contests—just like all trials—are unique and idiosyncratic. There is some truth to that easy generalization, but it also misses the forest for the trees. Some obvious truths stand …
Update on “Loser Pays” Fee Shifting
The Delaware State Senate passed legislation on May 12th that will preclude “loser pays” fee shifting by bylaw or charter provision—sometimes. The Delaware House is expected to act sometime in June. But the pending legislation only bars such fee-shifting …
The DuPont Proxy Battle: New Myths, Old Realities—and Even Newer Data About Hedge Fund Activism
A watershed moment is coming for shareholder activism and corporate governance generally, as the proxy contest brought by Trian Management Fund, seeking effectively to break up DuPont, enters its final stages (with the vote being less than a month away). …
Delaware Throws a Curveball
Since the Corporation Law Council of the Delaware State Bar Association announced earlier this month that it was recommending statutory amendments to prohibit “loser pays” fee shifting bylaws and charter provisions (and thus overrule the Delaware Supreme Court’s 2014 decision …
IGNORANCE IS NOW BLISS: But What Can the Government Do?
Federal Preemption and Fee-Shifting
All eyes are on Delaware, where soon the Delaware Bar Association will recommend to the state legislature whether or not to curb the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision last year to uphold the facial validity of a board-approved bylaw that shifted …
“Loser Pays”: Who Will Be The Biggest Loser?
About two months ago, this columnist was asked to prepare a short report to the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee on the then still largely unnoticed trend toward bylaw and charter provisions that imposed some form of a “loser pays” rule …
Fee-Shifting and the SEC: Does It Still Believe in Private Enforcement?
Corporate law normally moves at a glacial pace, but sometimes there are periods of rapid change, much of it invisible to the ordinary observer. 2014 may be witnessing such a period of rapid, low-visibility change. Between May 29 and September …
Hedge Fund Activism: Impacts and Options
Hedge fund activism has increased almost hyperbolically. Some view this optimistically as a means for bridging the separation of ownership and control; others are more pessimistic, seeing mainly wealth transfers from bondholders or speculative expectations of a takeover as fueling …
Allergan and the Odd Couple
Not since Felix and Oscar teamed up in the Odd Couple has there been a more curious collaboration.[1] Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. have entered into a short-term marriage of convenience to facilitate Valeant’s hostile …