Publications

February 2000 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Venture Law Group (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scott D Landry

Craig Johnson, Venture Law Group's (VLG) chairman, founded VLG in 1993 with a goal of "zero voluntary turnover." In late 1998, Johnson faces the departure of three important partners, prompting himself to ask what VLG can do in the midst of an "economic hurricane" that... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Relationship Management; Partners and Partnerships; Retention; Legal Services Industry

February 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Teaching Note

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. TN

By: Paul M. Healy

Teaching Note for (9-100-037). View Details

Keywords: Insurance Industry

November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Accrual Accounting; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Insurance; Business Growth and Maturation; Insurance Industry

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Background Note

Introduction to Islamic Finance, An

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Fuaad Qureshi and Mathew M Millett

Provides a basic introduction to the principles of Islamic finance. Examines the religious background and legal foundations of Islamic finance. Also discusses the development of Islamic financial institutions and the financial instruments they use. Concludes with a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Globalization; Growth and Development; Lawfulness; Problems and Challenges; Religion; Financial Services Industry

July 1999 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Katharina Pick

Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. faces a hostile takeover bid from its competitor, Mentor Graphics. Mentor makes the bid at a moment when Quickturn's stock price is depressed and the company is defending against a patent suit filed by Mentor. The two companies have a... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Governing and Advisory Boards; Behavior; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizations; Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Service Industry

June 1999
Background Note

Competition Between the Professions: Law Firms vs. Accounting Firms

By: Ashish Nanda

Discusses the emerging competition between law firms and accounting firms. View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Competition; Legal Services Industry; Legal Services Industry

March 1999
Article

Practices for Managing Information Flows Within Organizations

By: Joel Demski, Tracy Lewis, Dennis Yao and Huseyin Yildirim

Firm organization determines how coworkers communicate and how information flows within the firm. Banking, accounting, consulting, and legal firms process proprietary information which their clients wish to protect. The firm's ability to safeguard and manage... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Management Practices and Processes; Safety; Governance Controls; Customer Focus and Relationships

June 1998 (Revised June 1998)
Background Note

Bankruptcy: A Debtor's Perspective

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Michael J. Roberts

Describes the business and legal context surrounding personal and corporate bankruptcy. View Details

Keywords: Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Condition; Legal Liability; Personal Finance; Loss; Business or Company Management

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Shepard Quraeshi Associates (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

Samina Quraeshi, principal of Boston-based Shepard Quraeshi Associates, must decide whether to take legal action against her key employees after they leave her firm to start their own, taking with them key clients and data. Quraeshi sees the situation as reflecting... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; Nationality; Ethics; Employees; Gender; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Immigration; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

November 1997
Case

Borden Ranch: Balancing Private Property Rights and Social Interests in Ag

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Don Daniels and Diane Richmond

Angelo Tsakopoulos wanted to convert grazing land to crop agriculture. He received different advice from different government agencies and became involved in legal battles. View Details

Keywords: Property; Social Entrepreneurship; Rights; Agribusiness; Social Issues; Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

July 1997
Article

The Presidio Trust legislation: Preservation or Privatization?

By: Brian Trelstad

This analysis of the Presidio Trust legislation places the recent developments on the Presidio in the context of a century and a half of environmental planning. By first exploring the Presidio's history, and then tracing the more recent legislative background to the... View Details

Keywords: Presidio; Presidio Trust; National Parks; Urban Parks; Public-private Management; Natural Environment; Urban Scope; Planning

Article

Lawyers Abroad: The Internationalization of Legal Practice

By: Debora L. Spar

April 1996 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Background and Agreements on Foreign Direct Investment

By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Courtenay Sprague

A brief history of foreign direct investment (FDI) is explored, emphasizing conflicts, developments in the legal framework governing FDI, and international agreements and nonbinding principles formulated to resolve disputes brought in by FDI. Propositions provide a... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Agreements and Arrangements; Conflict Management

November 1995
Case

"Marketing" at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Describes the history and unique operating principles of the most successful corporate law firm in the country. Closes with a lengthy quotation by Martin Lipton, who is one of the firm's founding partners and who is described in an American Lawyer article as the "Elvis... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Reputation; Business Strategy; Legal Services Industry

Article

Investing in Distressed Situations: A Market Survey

By: S. C. Gilson

The risks of investing in distressed companies—a practice popularly known as "vulture" investing—are highly firm specific and idiosyncratic. Investors who are adept at managing these risks, who understand the legal rules that must be followed in corporate bankruptcy,... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Markets

October 1995
Article

Start-ups, Spin-offs, and Internal Projects

By: James J. Anton and Dennis Yao

We examine the incentive problem confronting a firm and employee when the employee privately discovers a significant invention and faces a choice between keeping the invention private and leaving the firm to form a new company (start-up), or transferring knowledge and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Rights; Employees; Innovation and Invention; Compensation and Benefits; Knowledge Sharing; Capital; Profit

Read Now

August 1995
Case

Hutton Branch Manager (D)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

Describes the actions taken by E.F.Hutton management in response to the Bell Report, a study prepared by former Attorney General Griffin Bell and his law firm after Hutton pleaded guilty to 2,000 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with its cash management... View Details

Keywords: Legal Liability; Crime and Corruption; Moral Sensibility; Acquisition; Decisions; Business or Company Management; Financial Services Industry

July 1995
Background Note

Managerial Duties and Business Law

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Governance; Retention; Common Law; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles

May 1995
Background Note

Note on Product Liability

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller

This note provides an overview to the evolution and current state of product liability law in the United States. View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities; Legal Liability; Safety; Product Marketing; Business Strategy; Policy; Government and Politics; United States