Business Associations

Amitai Aviram

Course Outline and Assigned Reading

 

·                    I may modify this outline and the assigned reading throughout the semester. Please make sure to check my website (http://home.law.uiuc.edu/~aviram) each weekend to confirm the assigned reading for the following week.  If I must make more immediate changes, I will notify of them in class.

·                    PowerPoint presentations are available by clicking on the hyperlinked class topic.  These presentations are made available solely as study-aids for the use of students in the course, and are not to be modified, sold or transferred to others.

 

Business Associations I

 

Introduction to BA1

·        Simulation 1 – The Agency Problem

 

1.     Agency Law

 

  1. The Agency Relationship

·        Creation: Restatement (Third) on Agency (“Restatement”) § 1.01-1.04, 2.01, 2.03; Gorton (1-6); Cargill (7-12)

·        Estoppel: Restatement § 2.05; Hoddeson (35-38)

·        Termination: Restatement § 3.06-3.13

·        Duties: Restatement § 8.01-8.11, 8.14-8.15; Reading (76-78); Singer (79-82)

 

  1. Liability of Principal in Contracts

·        General Principles: Restatement § 6.01-6.04, 6.10-6.11

·        Actual Authority: Restatement § 2.02, 3.01; Hogan (14-16)

·        Apparent Authority: Restatement § 3.03; Lind

·        Undisclosed Principal: Restatement § 2.06; Watteau (26-29)

·        Ratification: Restatement §4.01-4.08; Botticello (31-34)

 

  1. Liability of Principal in Torts

·        Restatement § 2.04, 7.01-7.05, 7.07-7.08

·        Vandemark; Bushey (59-62)

 

Simulation 2 – Agency Law

 

2.     The General Partnership

 

  1. Forming the Partnership

·        Uniform Partnership Act (1997) (“RUPA”) § 103, 201(a), 202-204, 401

·        Fenwick (87-91); Martin (92-95)

 

  1. Operating the Partnership

·        RUPA § 301, 303, 305-308, 401, 403-404, 501-504

·        Meinhard (105-110); Meehan (117-124); Lawlis (125-130); Stroud (140-142); Summers (142-144)

 

  1. Terminating the Partnership

·        RUPA § 601-603, 701-703, 801-804, 807

·        Collins (153-158); Owen (150-153)

 

3.     The Corporation – Basic Concepts

 

  1. Introduction to the Corporation

·        Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) §101-102, 107-109, 161; Model Business Corporation Act (“MBCA”) § 2.01-2.06

 

  1. Limited Liability

·        Walkovszky (189-193); Sea-Land (194-199)

 

  1. Centralized Management

·        DGCL § 121, 122, 124, 141, 142; MBCA § 3.01-3.02, 3.04, 8.01, 8.03, 8.20-8.25, 8.40, 8.43

·        Fogel; Steigerwald

 

4.     The Corporation – Fiduciary Duties

 

  1. The Business Judgment Rule

·        Dodge (270-275); Shlensky (275-279)

 

  1. Duty of Care

·        DGCL § 102(b)(7), 141(e); MBCA § 8.30, 8.31(a)(2)(ii, iv), 8.42

·        Van Gorkom (314-324); Francis (328-334)

 

  1. Duty of Loyalty

·        DGCL § 141, 144; MBCA § 8.31, 8.60-8.63

·        Bayer (336-341); eBay (352-354); Stone

 

Simulation 3 – Centralized Management

 

5.     Closely-Held Corporations

 

  1. Decentralized Management

·        DGCL § 218, 341-343, 350-351, 354-355; MBCA § 6.27, 7.30-7.32

·        McQuade (583-588); Clark (588-590); Wilkes (607-612); Ingle (614-619)

 

  1. Liberal Dissolution

·        DGCL § 275, 278; MBCA § 14.02, 14.05, 14.30, 14.32, 14.34

·        Stuparich (663-668), Haley (649-656)

 

Simulation 4 – Closely-Held Corporations

 

BA I - Exam Preparation

 

 

Business Associations II

 

Introduction to BA2

·        Simulation 1 – Fiduciary Duties

 

1.     Shareholder Activism: Framework

 

  1. Finance & Shareholder Activism

·        Note on corporate finance

 

  1. Corporate Constitutional Documents

·        DGCL § 101-102, 106-109, 141, 242

·        Capano; CA

 

  1. Fiduciary Duties of Shareholders

·        Sinclair (357-361); Zetlin (673-674); Perlman (676-680); Essex (680-684)

 

2.     Shareholder Activism: Tools

 

  1. Shareholder Voting

·        DGCL § 211-212, 213, 214, 216, 222, 223, 228

·        Note on shareholder voting; Licht; Blasius

 

  1. Proxies

 

  1. Derivative Actions & Shareholder Inspection

·        Delaware Court of Chancery Rule 23.1; DGCL § 219-220

·        Tooley; Beam; Oracle; Finley; Pershing Square

 

Simulation 2 – Shareholder Activism

 

3.     Mergers & Acquisitions

 

  1. Mechanics of Mergers & Acquisitions

·        DGCL § 251, 253, 259, 262, 271; Van Gorkom (314-324); Berger; Farris (691-697)

 

  1. Friendly Acquisitions

·        Weinberger (700-710); ADS; Hexion

 

  1. Hostile Acquisitions

·        DGCL § 203; Unocal (745-753); Revlon (755-764)

 

Simulation 3 – Mergers & Acquisitions

 

4.     Introduction to Corporate Finance

 

  1. Capital Structure

·        DGCL §151, 153, 157, 161; Stroh (570-573)

 

  1. Application of Securities Laws

·        Securities Act of 1933 § 2-5, 11-12; Reves; Doran (413-418)

 

  1. Securities Fraud

·        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 § 10, 13

·        Basic (438-450); West (452-455); Santa Fe (457-462)

 

  1. Insider Trading

·        SEC Rules 10b-5, 10b5-1, 10b5-2, 14e-3

·        TGS (471-480); Dirks (483-488); O’Hagan (490-496)

 

BA II - Exam Preparation

 

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