Questions from Business Law

Q: James owned Despatch Industries. When his son, Wade, and

James owned Despatch Industries. When his son, Wade, and son-in-law, Alan, started working for the company, they both signed identical employment contracts, which provided for a severance payment if t...

Q: Some companies adopt a staggered board of directors as an antitakeover defense

Some companies adopt a staggered board of directors as an antitakeover defense. How does a staggered board affect cumulative voting?

Q: Ronald O. Perelman, chairman of the board and CEO of

Ronald O. Perelman, chairman of the board and CEO of Pantry Pride, met with his counterpart at Revlon, Michel C. Bergerac, to discuss a friendly acquisition of Revlon by Pantry Pride. Revlon rebuffed...

Q: Shareholders lost their gamble when they bought stock of Jackpot Enterprises,

Shareholders lost their gamble when they bought stock of Jackpot Enterprises, Inc. Fed up with management, a shareholder asked the company to include a proposal in the proxy statement that would requi...

Q: You plan to open a store in Chicago, specializing in rugs

You plan to open a store in Chicago, specializing in rugs imported from Turkey. You will work with a native Turk who will purchase and ship the rugs to your store. You are wise enough to insist on a...

Q: William H. Sullivan, Jr., purchased all the voting shares

William H. Sullivan, Jr., purchased all the voting shares of the New England Patriots Football Club, Inc. (the Old Patriots). He organized a new corporation called the New Patriots Football Club, Inc....

Q: Edgar Bronfman, Jr., dropped out of high school to go

Edgar Bronfman, Jr., dropped out of high school to go to Hollywood and write songs and produce movies. Eventually, he left Hollywood to work in the family business—the Bronfmans owned 36 percent of Se...

Q: Two shareholders of Bruce Co., Harry and Yolan Gilbert, were

Two shareholders of Bruce Co., Harry and Yolan Gilbert, were fighting management for control of the company. They asked for permission to inspect Bruce’s stockholder list so that they could either sol...

Q: Pfizer Inc. paid $2.3 billion to settle civil

Pfizer Inc. paid $2.3 billion to settle civil and criminal charges alleging that it had illegally marketed 13 of its most important drugs. This settlement made history, but not in a good way. It was b...

Q: DeVry Inc. runs for-profit schools. Its shareholders submitted

DeVry Inc. runs for-profit schools. Its shareholders submitted a proposal that would require the company to “annually report to shareholders on the expected ability of students at Company-owned instit...