Publications

John Batter is a retired Litigation Partner in the Boston Office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP where his practice focussed on on the defense of public and private companies and their directors and management against breach of fiduciary duty claims and... View Details

Article

Consequences of Financial Reporting Failure for Outside Directors: Evidence from Accounting Restatements and Audit Committee Members

By: Suraj Srinivasan

I use a sample of 409 companies that restated their earnings from 1997 to 2001 to examine penalties for outside directors, particularly audit committee members, when their companies experience accounting restatements. Penalties from lawsuits and Securities and Exchange... View Details

Keywords: Outcome or Result; Business Earnings; Financial Statements; Lawsuits and Litigation; Labor; Markets; Financial Reporting; Accounting Audits; Cost; Reputation

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February 2020
Supplement

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (B)

By: Nien-he Hsieh, Christina R. Wing and John Masko

This supplemental case tracks the results of the Colman and Taubman-Dye class action suit against Theranos as well as Theranos’ other legal challenges and chronicles the final demise of the company in 2019. View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; California; United States

Article

Is ‘Not Guilty’ the Same as ‘Innocent’? Evidence from SEC Financial Fraud Investigations

By: Eugene F. Soltes and David H. Solomon

When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates firms for financial fraud, investors learn about the investigation only if managers disclose it, or regulators sanction the firm. We investigate the effects of such disclosures using confidential records on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Fraud; Corporate Disclosure; Performance; Outcome or Result

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November 1994
Case

Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (A)

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

In early 1994, Dow Corning Corp. debates whether to participate in a proposed $4.2 billion product liability settlement. Specifically, the firm must decide whether to contribute $2 billion to end a class action suit filed by women suffering from connective tissue... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Ethics; Health Disorders; Government Legislation; Crime and Corruption; Legal Liability; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Lawsuits and Litigation; Health Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

25 Oct 2024
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces Latest RISE Fellows

As part of the Harvard Business School (HBS) Advancing Racial Equity action plan, 26 students from the MBA Classes of 2025 and 2026 have been named recipients of a Recognizing Individuals Seeking Equity... View Details

September 2002
Case

Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (C2): Race, Class, and School Choice

Presents the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit in the spring of 2002 to invalidate Seattle's use of race as a factor in allocating space in Seattle's oversubscribed schools. Summarizes the posture and content of the litigation, including... View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Income; Social Entrepreneurship; Race; Lawsuits and Litigation; Education; Education Industry; Seattle

November 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Cutter & Buck (A)

By: William A. Sahlman and Victoria Winston

Only three short months into her new position as CEO of publicly traded golf apparel manufacturer Cutter & Buck, Fran Conley discovers accounting irregularities that call into question the reliability of this company's financial statements. Working closely with her... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Disclosure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Going Public