The Public Benefit Corporation: Panacea or Pipe Dream?

Wednesday, October 9th, 2024
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Add to Calendar: Add to Calendar: 2024-10-09 16:30:00 2024-10-09 17:30:00 The Public Benefit Corporation: Panacea or Pipe Dream? Event Description The public benefit corporation (“PBC”) is a relatively new form of business organization that is designed to harness the power of capitalism to solve social problems.  PBCs must try to earn profits, but they must also pursue some social purpose. Will they work as intended?  Or will companies use this new form as a marketing tool while retaining a single-minded focus on increasing their profits? Speaker Bio Michael Dorff is the Executive Director of the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.  He has written two books: Indispensable and Other Myths: Why the CEO Pay Experiment Failed, and How to Fix It (University of California Press 2014) and Becoming a Public Benefit Corporation: Express Your Values, Energize Stakeholders, Make the World a Better Place (Stanford University Press 2023). His writing has appeared or been discussed in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Economist, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post, Politico, Slate, The Los Angeles Times and Fortune, as well as numerous law reviews. Case Western Reserve University School of Law George Gund Hall Room A59, Moot Courtroom 11075 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106 School of Law School of Law America/New_York public

In-person only. 

1.0 hour of CLE credit, pending approval

Event Description

The public benefit corporation (“PBC”) is a relatively new form of business organization that is designed to harness the power of capitalism to solve social problems.  PBCs must try to earn profits, but they must also pursue some social purpose. Will they work as intended?  Or will companies use this new form as a marketing tool while retaining a single-minded focus on increasing their profits?

Speaker Bio

Michael Dorff is the Executive Director of the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law.  He has written two books: Indispensable and Other Myths: Why the CEO Pay Experiment Failed, and How to Fix It (University of California Press 2014) and Becoming a Public Benefit Corporation: Express Your Values, Energize Stakeholders, Make the World a Better Place (Stanford University Press 2023). His writing has appeared or been discussed in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Economist, The New Yorker, The Huffington Post, Politico, Slate, The Los Angeles Times and Fortune, as well as numerous law reviews.

Event Location

Case Western Reserve University School of Law
George Gund Hall
Room A59, Moot Courtroom
11075 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106

Michael Dorff headshot leaning against a tree