Fiduciary Duty, Corporate Goals, and Shareholder Activism
Friday, November 2nd, 2018 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
The Law Review Conference & Leet Symposium
$100.00 for Case Western Reserve Law Alumni
$200.00 for all other attorneys
Webcast Archive Content
Event Description
This year’s 2018 Law Review Conference and Leet Symposium, titled “Fiduciary Duty, Corporate Goals, and Shareholder Activism,” brings together leading academics, as well as private and public executives to explore the tension between traditional shareholder wealth maximization and shareholder environmental and social activism.
Headlining the conference is this year’s keynote address, “Undermining Investor Protection through Environmental, Social and Governance Activism,” delivered by Hester M. Peirce, Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Symposium will present issues related to corporate governance, hedge fund activism, and the ethical role of general counsels seeking to zealously advocate for their corporations while giving impartial legal advice.
Panel topics include The Changing Face of the Corporate Board; Ethical Challenges in the Role of In-House Counsel; Undermining Investor Protection through Environmental, Social and Governance Activism; and Society and Shareholders: How Companies Weigh Financial and Social Pressures.
The current political, social, and financial climate presents an exciting opportunity to discuss how corporations respond to shifting social awareness.
Continuing Legal Education Readings
- Corp gov, board composition, etc. (2016, 56 p.)
- Shareholder value, social responsibility (2010, 46 p.)
- Investor protection, long-run performance of activism (2016, 66 p.)
- Diversity, compliance, ethics, in-house counsel (2017, 19 p.)
Agenda
Time | Topic |
---|---|
9:00 am | The Changing Face of the Corporate Board
This panel will address how the composition of a corporate board affects the corporation’s success. Andy Green, Managing Director of Economic Policy at American Progress Ann Lipton, Michael Fleishman Associate Professor in Corporate Law & Entrepreneurship, Tulane Law School Todd Henderson, the Michael J. Marks Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School Moderator: Professor Stephen Wilks,Visiting Associate Professor, CWRU School of Law |
10:15 am | Break |
10:30 am | Ethical Challenges in the Role of In-House Counsel
This panel will address the ethical issues affecting in-house attorneys as they seek to promote corporate goals while providing impartial legal advice. Sally Gunz, Professor of Business Law and Professional Ethics, School of Accounting and Finance, University of Waterloo, Canada Paula Schaefer, Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law Jonathan Leiken, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Diebold Nixdorf Moderator: Professor Cassandra Robertson, John Deaver Drinko - BakerHostetler Professor of Law; Director of the Center for Professional Ethics |
11:45 am | Break/Lunch |
12:00 pm |
Undermining Investor Protection through Environmental, Social and Governance Activism
Commissioner Hester Peirce, Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |
1:00 pm |
Break |
1:15 pm | Society and Shareholders: How Companies Weigh Financial and Social Pressures
This panel will address how companies anticipate and respond to social pressures when making short and long term decisions that affect the corporate share price. Minor Myers, Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School, Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School Claire Hill, James L. Krusemark Chair in Law at the University of Minnesota Law School Sean Griffith, T.J. Maloney Chair in Business Law and Director of the Corporate Law Center, Fordham Law School in New York City Moderator: Professor Charles Korsmo, Professor of Law, CWRU School of Law |
2:30 pm |
Symposium Concludes |
Event Location
Moot Courtroom (A59)
11075 East Blvd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

Hester M. Peirce
Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Online registration available or register at the door
Academic Centers and Continuing Legal Education Programs
academiccenters@case.edu
216-368-1806