National Book Award for Nonfiction Finalist National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction Finalist A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year A PBS “Now Read This” Book Club Selection Named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Economist and the Boston Globe A landmark exposé and “deeply engaging legal history” of one of the most successful, yet least known, civil rights movements in American history (Washington Post). In a revelatory work praised as “excellent and timely” (New York Times Book Review, front page), Adam Winkler, author of Gunfight, once again makes sense of our fraught constitutional history in this incisive portrait of how American businesses seized political power, won “equal rights,” and transformed the Constitution to serve big business. Uncovering the deep roots of Citizens United, he repositions that controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision as the capstone of a centuries-old battle for corporate personhood. “Tackling a topic that ought to be at the heart of political debate” (Economist), Winkler surveys more than four hundred years of diverse cases—and the contributions of such legendary legal figures as Daniel Webster, Roger Taney, Lewis Powell, and even Thurgood Marshall—to reveal that “the history of corporate rights is replete with ironies” (Wall Street Journal). We the Corporations is an uncompromising work of history to be read for years to come.

Lawyers involved in international commercial transactions know well that unforeseen events affecting the performance of a party often arise. Not surprisingly, exemptions for non-performance are dealt with in a significant number of arbitral awards. This very useful book thoroughly analyzes contemporary approaches, particularly as manifested in case law, to the scope and content of the principles of exemption for non-performance which are commonly referred to as 'force majeure' and 'hardship.' The author shows that the 'general principles of law' approach addresses this concern most effectively. Generally accepted and understood by the business world at large, this approach encompasses principles of international commercial contracts derived from a variety of legal systems. It's most important 'restatements' are found in the 1980 United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (UPICC). Establishing specific standards and "case groups" for the exemptions under review, the analysis treats such recurring elements as the following: contractual risk allocations; unforeseeability of an impediment; impediments beyond the typical sphere of risk and control of the obligor; responsibility for third parties (subcontractors, suppliers); legal impediments (acts of public authority) and effect of mandatory rules; involvement of states or state enterprises; interpretation of force majeure and hardship clauses; hardship threshold test; frustration of purpose; irreconcilable differences; comparison with exemptions under domestic legal systems (impossibility of performance, frustration of contract, impracticability) The book is a major contribution to the development of the use of general principles of law in international commercial arbitration. It may be used as a comprehensive commentary on the force majeure and hardship provisions of the UPICC, as well as on Art. 79 of the CISG. In addition, as an insightful investigation into the fundamental question of the limits of the principle of sanctity of contracts, this book is sure to capture the attention of business lawyers and interested academics everywhere.

Now in its fourth edition, Principles of Contemporary Corporate Governance offers comprehensive coverage of the key topics and emerging themes in private sector corporate governance. It explains both the principles of corporate governance systems and their real-world application in an authoritative and engaging manner. This fully revised and updated text has four parts: basic concepts, board structures and company officers; corporate governance in Australia; corporate governance in international and global contexts; and shareholder activism and business ethics. The coverage of international contexts includes sections on the US, the UK, Canada, South Africa, the EU, the OECD, Germany, Japan, China and Indonesia, plus new sections on New Zealand and India. A new chapter on business ethics and corporate governance presents contemporary discussions on the topic and explores some of the broader legal issues. Principles of Contemporary Corporate Governance is an indispensable resource for business and law students, academic researchers and practitioners

Major enterprises shape our lives in countless ways: big tech and 'surveillance media' that affect democratic debate, algorithms that influence online shopping, transport to work and home, energy and agriculture corporations that drive climate damage, and public services that provide our education, health, water, and housing. The twentieth century experienced swings between private and public ownership, between capitalism and socialism, without any settled, principled outcome, and without settling major questions of how enterprises should be financed, governed and the rights we have in them. This book's main question is 'are there principles of enterprise law', and, if they are missing, 'what principles of enterprise law should there be'? Principles of Enterprise Law gives a functional account of the 'general' enterprise laws of companies, investment, labour, competition and insolvency, before moving into specific enterprises, from universities to the military. It is an original guide to our economic constitution and human rights.

This is the long-awaited second edition of this highly regarded comparative overview of corporate law. This edition has been comprehensively updated to reflect profound changes in corporate law. It now includes consideration of additional matters such as the highly topical issue of enforcement in corporate law, and explores the continued convergence of corporate law across jurisdictions. The authors start from the premise that corporate (or company) law across jurisdictions addresses the same three basic agency problems: (1) the opportunism of managers vis-à-vis shareholders; (2) the opportunism of controlling shareholders vis-à-vis minority shareholders; and (3) the opportunism of shareholders as a class vis-à-vis other corporate constituencies, such as corporate creditors and employees. Every jurisdiction must address these problems in a variety of contexts, framed by the corporation's internal dynamics and its interactions with the product, labor, capital, and takeover markets. The authors' central claim, however, is that corporate (or company) forms are fundamentally similar and that, to a surprising degree, jurisdictions pick from among the same handful of legal strategies to address the three basic agency issues. This book explains in detail how (and why) the principal European jurisdictions, Japan, and the United States sometimes select identical legal strategies to address a given corporate law problem, and sometimes make divergent choices. After an introductory discussion of agency issues and legal strategies, the book addresses the basic governance structure of the corporation, including the powers of the board of directors and the shareholders meeting. It proceeds to creditor protection measures, related-party transactions, and fundamental corporate actions such as mergers and charter amendments. Finally, it concludes with an examination of friendly acquisitions, hostile takeovers, and the regulation of the capital markets.

Company Directors: Principles of Law and Corporate Governance is a detailed, scholarly and comprehensive analysis of law and governance as they relate to Australian company directors. This updated second edition examines the duties of company directors, remedies for breach of these duties, and the structure and operations of the board of directors, taking into account legislative and case law developments which have occurred since the first edition was published in 2005.Written by highly-respected authors in the field of corporate law, the book also includes expert commentary on corporate governance as it relates to company directors.A new title in the LexisNexis Black and Silver series, this text is divided into three comprehensive parts, covering the structure and powers of company directors, specific duties imposed on directors, and enforcement of duties as well as remedies for breach of directors' duties. Features· Well-written by expert authors in the field· Comprehensive coverage of corporate governance and directors' duties· A highly regarded and authorative practitioner text Related TitlesAustin & Ramsay, Ford, Austin and Ramsay's Principles of Corporations Law, 16th edition, 2014Farrar & Hanrahan, Corporate Governance, 2016Gamertsfelder, Corporate Governance in Financial Services, 2016

The second edition of this acclaimed book continues to provide a discussion of key theoretical and policy issues in corporate finance law. Fully updated, it reflects developments in the law and the markets in the continuing aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis. One of its distinctive features is that it gives equal coverage to both the equity and debt sides of corporate finance law, and seeks, where possible, to compare the two. This book covers a broad range of topics regarding the debt and equity-raising choices of companies of all sizes, from SMEs to the largest publicly traded enterprises, and the mechanisms by which those providing capital are protected. Each chapter analyses the present law critically so as to enable the reader to understand the difficulties, risks and tensions in this area of law, and the attempts made by the legislature and the courts, as well as the parties involved, to deal with them. This book will be of interest to practitioners, academics and students engaged in the practice and study of corporate finance law.