Ernie C. Jolly On April 4, 2013, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released its anticipated report on the political intelligence industry, an emerging field where operatives research, analyze, and sell market sensitive political information.[1]  Required under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (the “STOCK Act”), the GAO’s report discusses: 1) the extent…

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Thomas Ahmadifar On January 25, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“D.C. Circuit”) ruled that President Obama’s three January 2012 appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) were unconstitutional.[1] In Noel Canning v. N.L.R.B.,[2] the D.C. Circuit held that an action by the NLRB against Noel Canning was…

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DANA BRAKMAN REISER Over the past few years, jurisdictions across the country have enacted specialized organizational forms to house social enterprises. Social enterprises are entities dedicated to a blended mission of earning profits for owners and promoting social good. They are neither typical businesses, concentrated on the bottom line of profit, nor traditional charities, geared…

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J. WILLIAM CALLISON In Greek myth, Procrustes, a bandit son of Poseidon, had a one-size-fits-all iron bed on which he invited passers-by to spend the night. Once his guests were asleep, he used his ironsmith’s hammer to stretch them to fit the bed. If a guest proved too tall, Procrustes would use shears to amputate…

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CHRISTOPHER CALFEE Whether Justice Scalia chopped down the “judicial oak which ha[d] grown from little more than a legislative acorn” or cleared an entire forest of “botanically distinct tree[s]” when he created the transactional test in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, Ltd., he undoubtedly changed the legal landscape for both international and antifraud securities laws. The…

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J. HASKELL MURRAY In the wake of the most recent financial crisis, interest in social enterprise has increased exponentially. Disillusioned with the perceived shareholder wealth focus of corporate law, entrepreneurs, investors, customers, and governments have become more receptive to new paradigms. In the past four years, nineteen states have passed at least one of five…

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AMANDA S. NAOUFAL In SEC v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Judge Rakoff rejected a $285 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”) and Citigroup. The complaint alleged that Citigroup failed to disclose its role in the selection of assets for a billion dollar collaterized debt obligation. Judge Rakoff rejected the consent…

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ARJUN PRASAD Nuclear regulation has faced a variety of challenges since the Atomic Energy Commission first introduced the procedure of two-step licensing, in which construction and operational licenses are issued separately to nuclear reactor developers. Since 1974, and the establishment of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the process for licensing a nuclear power plant has changed…

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Ashton Simmons In In re Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP[1], the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Sothern District of New York approved a settlement plan as part of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Chapter 11 proceedings, under which former partners will pay approximately $71 million in settlement payments. The Court also rejected a motion from an ad hoc…

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Please join the American University Business Law Review as it brings together academics and practitioners for its 2013 Symposium on Transactional Lawyering. We will engage in a broad conversation addressing the evolution of the field, “deal lawyers,” governance, current conditions impacting the practice, transactional law pedagogy, and the relationship between lawyers and financial markets. The Symposium will be held on…

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