Sky Blog
| Rank | Name | School | Citations | Age in 2016 |
| 1 | John Coffee, Jr. | Columbia University | 1470 | 72 |
| 2 | Lucian Bebchuk | Harvard University | 1130 | 61 |
| 3 | Stephen Bainbridge | University of California, Los Angeles | 1010 | 58 |
| 4 | Reinier Kraakman | Harvard University | 820 | 67 |
| 5 |
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 …
In a March 29, 2016 decision,[1] the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the “Court of Appeals”) held that creditors are preempted from asserting state law constructive fraudulent conveyance claims by virtue of the Bankruptcy Code’s “safe …
Corporate directors inevitably must make real-time decisions on complex and nuanced matters that impact not only the company, but also the company’s various stakeholders—e.g., shareholders, creditors, and employees. The pressure cooker that often is the corporate boardroom is not for …
The work of Columbia Law School Professor Kate Judge appears in the list of twelve best corporate and securities law articles in 2015, based on a poll conducted by the Corporate Practice Commentator. Teachers in corporate and securities law were …
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Whether one ascribes to the agency theory of shareholder primacy or the contractarian theory of director primacy, boards of directors have great discretion in determining whether, when, and how to sell the corporation. Defensive tactics, like poison pills, can be …
To achieve a growing number of public, social, civic goals, we draw on the power of financial markets. Parents who can afford to save for the cost of their children’s college education rely on the market when they put money …
A corporate inversion involves the relocation of a corporation’s legal domicile to a lower-tax nation (host country) while retaining its material operations in its higher-tax country of origin (home country). Corporations have been engaging in inversions for over three decades. …
Hedge fund activism is the latest rave in corporate governance. Activist hedge funds build stakes in target firms in order to press management for various changes. When managers are uncooperative, they may just be forced to step down. Lest you …
On January 7th 2016, Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) published their Exit Poll Report, which stated that in the U.S. 77 venture capital (VC)-backed initial public offerings (IPOs) raised $9.4 billion in 2015. Over …
Columbia Law School is looking for an Editor-at-Large to oversee and administer the Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog. The Blog, now completing its third year, has grown rapidly and become one of the most read sources of current information …
A widely-held view in financial economics is that CEOs holding a non-diversified wealth portfolio tied to the firm are likely to be more risk-averse when making corporate decisions than what diversified shareholders would prefer. To reduce this divergence in attitude …
Herd behavior is a widely used notion met in different contexts and disciplines, from neurology and zoology to sociology, psychology, economics and finance. In economics and finance the term herd behavior usually suggests the process where agents tend to imitate …
The role of the corporate general counsel (GC) has evolved over the past several decades. Traditionally, the GC served as an internal monitor via his/her gatekeeping functions to ensure that firms and their personnel acted legally and responsibly in business …
On January 4, 2016, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”) deviated from SDNY precedent and held that, despite the absence of clear Congressional intent, the avoidance powers provided for under Section …
European Economic Area (EEA) financial institutions are now subject to a new set of regulatory requirements designed to avoid taxpayers bailing out banks in the event of another banking crisis — a central component of which is that EU member …
In September 2007, Northern Rock, a British bank, sought and received liquidity support from the Bank of England because of financial difficulties resulting from the global financial crisis. As a result of mounting political pressure that Northern Rock was exploiting …
Once again, NML v. Argentina is in the spotlight. Sovereign debt’s “trial of the century”[1] has been the focal point of intense academic and policy debates, prompted a Supreme Court decision, and even triggered a contested default by Argentina …
There are few types of debt as internationally issued and traded as the debt securities issued in securitisation (in the United States, spelled securitization) transactions. European investors commonly invest in securities issued in U.S. securitisation transactions, and vice versa.
It …