Publications

February 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Lina Khan at the FTC: Redefining Antitrust in the Age of Big Tech

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Susan Pinckney

In 2023 and 2024, the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice sued Google, Amazon, and Apple claiming antitrust violations. These lawsuits marked a shift in U.S. antitrust enforcement away from the Chicago School and towards the New Brandeis school of... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Government Administration; Lawsuits and Litigation; Monopoly; Technology Industry; United States; European Union; China; India

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: John F. Batter

As as Senior Lecturer I teach the EC course Law, Management and Entrepreneurship (cross-listed in the General Management and Entrepreneurial Management Units) in both the Fall and Spring semesters. While I have retired from my public and private company litigation... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciary Duty; Securities; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Mergers; Law

February 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

ISS A/S: The Buyout

By: Clayton Rose, Carsten Bienz and Lucy White

Provides the opportunity to value a leveraged buy-out; and to examine the nature and extent of a company's responsibilities to its bondholders. Here, the context is a "going private" transaction in Europe, where the financing plan called for the addition to the... View Details

Keywords: LBO; Private Equity; Contracts; Global Business; International Business; Finance; Ethics; Law; Service Industry; Europe

February 2013
Article

An Activity-Generating Theory of Regulation

By: Joshua Schwartzstein and Andrei Shleifer

We propose an activity-generating theory of regulation. When courts make errors, tort litigation becomes unpredictable and as such imposes risk on firms, thereby discouraging entry, innovation, and other socially desirable activity. When social returns to activity are... View Details

Keywords: Courts and Trials; Lawsuits and Litigation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Theory

August 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Supplement

Albert 'Jack' Stanley in Nigeria (B)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad M. Carr

The case describes Albert "Jack" Stanley's response to actions initiated against him by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Moral Sensibility; Law; Value; Nigeria; United States

25 Apr 2000
Research & Ideas

Adjusting the Fit for Government

skills development." Other essentials for governments, Donovan said, are a willingness to privatize businesses, and to follow the rule of law "as opposed to the rule of individual parties View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Supplement

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A2)

By: V.G. Narayanan, Fabrizio Ferri and James Weber

The A1 and A2 versions of the “Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)” split the original A case into two parts. The A1 case ends as activists Sardar Biglari and Phil Cooley prepare to meet with CEO Don Smith at Friendly's headquarters in September 2006. The... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Conflict and Resolution; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

August 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Remicade/Simponi: Legal Memorandum

By: Guhan Subramanian, Guhan Subramanian and Rhea Ghosh

Supplements Remicade/Simponi: Confidential Instructions for Johnson & Johnson and Remicade/Simponi: Confidential Instructions for Merck. View Details

Keywords: Law; Legal Services Industry

September 2023
Teaching Note

Patagonia: 'Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder'

By: Brian Trelstad, Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael Norris and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-057. Patagonia’s change of ownership from a privately held company to a perpetual purpose trust and 501(c)(4) nonprofit in order to use the company’s profit to fight the environmental crisis and be a model for future businesses. View Details

March 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

The Ready-Made Garment Industry: A Bangladeshi Perspective (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Saloni Chaturvedi

Responsibility for working conditions in contract factories within the supply chain presents an ongoing challenge for managers and an area of debate. Much of the debate approaches the challenge from the perspective of large global apparel brands. This case helps... View Details

Keywords: Apparel; Bangladesh; Corporate Responsibility; Human Rights; Supply Chains; Labor; Working Conditions; Supply Chain; Safety; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Bangladesh

December 2012 (Revised November 2014)
Case

W.R. Grace & Co.: Dealing with Asbestos Torts

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

A manufacturer of building products and specialty chemicals, W. R. Grace & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 in response to a flood of lawsuits alleging that its products contained asbestos, and had caused hundreds of thousands of people to contract... View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy Reorganization; Business Failures; Environmental Regulations; Class Action Lawsuits; Natural Environment; Valuation; Health Disorders; Capital Structure; Restructuring; Lawsuits and Litigation; Chemicals; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Legal Liability; Construction Industry; Chemical Industry; United States

2000
Working Paper

The Logic of the First Amendment

By: Clifford G. Holderness, Michael C. Jensen and William H. Meckling

We develop a framework that is applicable to all freedom of expression disputes. Our framework is based on the meaning of freedom which is based on the meaning of scarcity, and which, in turn, is based on the existence of physical incompatibilities. To maximize... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Courts and Trials; Judgments; Property; Conflict and Resolution; United States

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December 2010
Article

Organizing the In-between: The Population Dynamics of Network-weaving Organizations in the Global Interstate Network

By: Paul Ingram and Magnus Thor Torfason

This article examines the population dynamics and viability of network weavers, which are organizations that provide network relations for others. An analysis of the population dynamics of the intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) that are the basis of the interstate... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Organizations; Demographics; Relationships; Globalization; Economics; Conflict and Resolution; Value; Lawfulness; Competition

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December 2019 (Revised November 2023)
Background Note

Legal Analysis: Insider Trading Liability

By: Trevor Fetter, Eugene F. Soltes and Grant Wahlquist

There are numerous restrictions against trading on material, nonpublic information (MNPI)—typically called “insider trading.” This note describes the limitations facing managers and investors as enforced civilly and criminally within the United States. View Details

Keywords: Insider Trading; Legal Liability; Ethics; Crime and Corruption; Finance; United States

July 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

A&M/Octone Records: All Rights or Nothing?

By: Anita Elberse, Elie Ofek and Caren Kelleher

In April 2008, after successfully transitioning Octone Records to Universal Music Group and relaunching the label as A&M/Octone Records, president and CEO James Diener is facing a new challenge. Diener and his executive team have trouble convincing a new, promising... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Intellectual Property; Contracts; Rights; Product Marketing; Product Development; Technology; Music Industry

01 Oct 2001
News

Christopher Cox: Capitol Hill Intellectual

Christopher Cox In reviewing Christopher Cox's CV, one might assume that his career has been well thought out. Cox took only three years to earn a BA in English and political science at the University of Southern California; received a... View Details

Keywords: Young, Susan; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support

October 2020 (Revised April 2022)
Case

When Institutions Fail: HIV/AIDS in the 1980s

By: Tom Nicholas and Christian Godwin

During the early 1980s, young gay men in urban centers such as San Francisco and New York City began contracting a mysterious illness that would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis meant almost certain death, with a less than 1% survival rate. Conflicting... View Details