California Court Of Appeal Says Forum Selection Clause Should Not Be Enforced In Usury Case

Does California's usury limitations constitute a "strong public policy"?  Seemingly, that question was decided over a half-century ago by the First District Court of Appeal in Ury v. Jewelers Acceptance Corp., 227 Cal. App. 2d 11, 20, 38 Cal. Rptr....

Covington's Substantial Investment In Protecting Client Confidences

As previously reported in this blog, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is attempting to force the international law firm of Covington & Burling, LLP to identify hundreds of its publicly traded clients.  See SEC Demands That...

Congress Enacts M&A Broker But What About George Babbitt?

Those who made it to page 1,080 of H.R. 2617 (the "Consolidated Appropriations Act") will know that Congress has amended Section 15(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt "M&A Brokers" from the requirement to register as brokers...

California Bill Would Regulate "Digital Financial Asset Transaction Kiosks"

Relatively few English words both begin and end with the letter "k".  Kiosk is one.  The word kiosk can be traced to the Persian word, kūsht, which refers to a palace or villa.  In Turkish, the word became köşk.  In France, a small structure placed in a...

Is This The Case That Ate Delaware Corporate Law?

In a recent feature published by the Washington Legal Foundation, UCLA Professor Stephen Bainbridge casts a jaundiced eye toward Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster's recent ruling in In re McDonald's Corp. Stockholder Deriv. Litig., C.A. No....

Was This The Least Transparent Report In SEC History?

Professor Alexander I. Platt at the University of Kansas School of Law has just released a draft of a forthcoming paper that takes the Securities and Exchange Commission to task for the lack of transparency in its whistleblower program, Going...

In Defense Of Putting Profits Forward

In the face of the rising popularity of stakeholderism, Professor Stephen Bainbridge has determined to "stand athwart the tracks of corporate governance and yell 'stop' as the stakeholder capitalism train pulls out of the station". He is doing so in...

Ten Rules For Group Decision Making By The Man Who Wrote The Book

Born at the end of the 19th century, Paul Mason worked for the California legislature and Governor Goodwin Knight.  In 1935, he published Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure, which is commonly known as Mason's Manual.  After Mr. Mason's death in...

Assembly Member Takes Another Run At Digital Financial Asset Law

In June of last year,  noted the introduction of a bill that would subject digital financial asset businesses to licensing in California.  See California Fingers Digital Financial Asset Businesses For Licensing. In September, Governor Gavin Newsom...