Print Edition

Volume 41 • Issue 2

Print Edition

Power Corrupts

PDF Download

Administrative agencies bear principal responsibility for keeping the federal government’s promises by giving effect in the real world to the laws Congress enacts. If administrative law’s goal was to help agencies fulfill this responsibility, its lodestar would be a thick concept of administration. But as a field, administrative law today neglects administration, focusing instead on […]

Print Edition

Compliance Gatekeepers

PDF Download

What determines the effectiveness of corporate compliance programs, and who is accountable when they fail? Scholars and policymakers tend to answer these questions by focusing on internal compliance actors: directors, CEOs, general counsels, chief financial officers, and chief compliance officers. Yet in reality, all these corporate insiders rarely perform compliance tasks on their own. They […]

Print Edition

Death, Bankruptcy, and the Public Hospital

PDF Download

Even before the pandemic, the 90,000 local governments in the United States faced grim fiscal positions. During the pandemic, revenues cratered, costs increased, and many local governments teetered on the brink. Yet few of them considered filing for bankruptcy, though Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code is designed for local governments. The choice to eschew […]

Print Edition

Specialist Directors

PDF Download

What determines the effectiveness of corporate boards? Corporate legal scholars usually approach this question by focusing on directors’ incentives, such as counting how many directors are independent or whether the roles of the CEO and Chair are separated. Yet on the ground, the focus has been shifting to directors’ skill sets and experience. Investors, regulators, […]

Print Edition

Incorporating Responsibility

PDF Download

“Limited liability” is the rule that shareholders are not liable for the debts of the corporations they own. Critics of limited liability argue that it encourages corporations to ignore the harms they cause and cuts off recovery for deserving plaintiffs. Defenders of limited liability reply that it helps the economy by reassuring investors that they […]

Print Edition

Public Space or Private Profit? ‘Streateries’ and the Need to Reclaim the Public Realm in the Post-Pandemic City

PDF Download

The pandemic brought with it the entrenchment of a massively trans-formed cityscape. From car-free streets to widespread private dining in parking spots, what began as a series of temporary municipal authorizations have since transitioned into permanent programs. For some, these urban changes are unalloyed goods—who doesn’t want to drink al fresco at 3pm on a […]