Events
The Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy sponsors many events throughout the year. These activities are built around our outstanding core, affiliated and adjunct faculty, as well as visiting scholars and seasoned professionals. BCLBE often collaborates with other Berkeley Law centers, the Haas School of Business, the Economics Department and other campus wide organizations in presenting its seminars, workshops and policy roundtables. Most events are open to students, faculty, the greater UC community as well as the public. Upcoming and completed events, including video links are listed below. For events prior to this time, go to our Archive.
To register for upcoming events please visit the Event Registration Page.
2011-2012
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Boalt Hall, Warren Room; 3:30 am - 5:00 pm
Business Law Certificate Ceremony
This ceremony will recognize the 2012 recipients of the Business Law Certificates. Read more>
2011-2012
Past Events
Friday, April 13, 2012
International House; 8:30 am - 1:30 pm
The Foreclosure Crisis: Challenges and
Solutions to the Mortgage Meltdown
Home foreclosures continue to plague the US economy and wreck havoc in the lives of individuals, families and communities. On April 13, 2012, the Berkeley Business Law Journal (BBLJ) and BCLBE will host a Symposium on “The Foreclosure Crisis: Challenges and Solutions to the Mortgage Meltdown.” Read more.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Boalt Hall, Room 110; 12:40 - 1:40 pm
Smart Course Planning: What To Take in Business Law and Why
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Fall 2012 Courses for JD Certificate Curriculum Highlights
BCLBE will preview the Fall 2012 Courses. Join us for an
information session about the business law program at Berkeley Law
presented by Ken Taymor
and other business law faculty. The program will review the Fall 2012
classes and highlight new course offerings. This is an
opportunity for students to learn how business law courses meet their
interests and prepare them for professional practice, whether in a firm,
government or NGO position. The program will also review the Business
Law Certificate requirements. Lunch will be provided.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Boalt Hall, Room 100; 12:40 - 1:40 pm
Working with
Asian Universities: A Practitioner's Perspective
Michael Lin,
Marks & Clerk Hong Kong
Co-sponsored with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology (BCLT)
There has been a growing trend for US multinationals to partner with Asian universities for basic research and other kinds of technical collaboration, especially in India, China and Japan. There are specific reasons why this trend is growing faster than partnering with US and European universities. Is it likely to continue? What do we learn from it to strengthen our own competitiveness? CLE credit available. Lunch will be provided. Register>
Monday, March 19, 2012
Boalt Hall, Room 132; 3:30 - 5:00 pm
The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership Between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs
William H. Draper III, Draper Richards LP
Co-sponsored with Berkeley Law International and Executive Legal Education (IELE), Haas School of Business Lester Center for Entrepreneurship, Berkeley Engineering Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (CET), Alpha Kappa Psi, TAMID Israel Investment Group, Berkeley Investment Group, ASUC Office of the President, Capital Investments at Berkeley, and Net Impact Berkeley
Silicon Valley venture capitalist William H. Draper III will speak about his new book, The Startup Game, which takes an up-close look at how the relationship between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs is critical to enhancing the success of any economy. Draper will also autograph copies of his book, following his lecture. Read more
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Boalt Hall, Room 110; 12:45 - 1:45 pm
What Do Business Lawyers Do: Practitioners’
Views
In collaboration with the Career Development Office (CDO) and Berkeley Business Law Journal (BBLJ)
Join us for an opportunity to hear from, and ask questions of, some of the Bay Area's most experienced business lawyers about what they and their colleagues in the broadly defined "business practice" field do. How has law firm practice evolved and what is the role of an associate? Explore ways you can take advantage of the opportunities law firm practice can offer to Berkeley Law students who are interested in business law (or who don't know enough about it to know whether or not it is something of interest).
Speakers to include:
Noel Nellis, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Clayton Gantz, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Boalt Hall, Room 100; 12:40 - 1:40 pm
Enforcement Without Foundation? China's Illegal
Insider Trading Enforcement Regime
Nicholas C. Howson, University of Michigan Law School
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Click here to read Howson's paper.
Co-sponsored with the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)
China’s securities regulator enforces insider trading prohibitions pursuant to self-conceived and non-public guidance. Many reported cases indicate that such agency enforcement -- and possibly criminal enforcement by the public prosecutor -- is possible only pursuant to this guidance, as the trading behavior giving rise to liability is outside of the scope of insider trading liability described in statute. Howson argues that the agency guidance is itself unlawful and unenforceable, and thus a large part of China's contemporary insider trading enforcement regime is without foundation. This radical infirmity underlying what many see as the basis of well-governed and investor-attracting capital markets has important implications not only for China’s securities regulation regime and healthy capital markets development, but also for the entirety of China’s legal and administrative law system in the reform era. Click here to register.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2223 Fulton, 6th Floor; 4:00 - 6:00 pm
China’s Regulatory State: A New Strategy for Globalization
Roselyn Hsueh, Temple University
Co-sponsored with Institute
of East Asian Studies (IEAS), the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS, and the Center for the Study of Law and Society (CSLS).
Today’s China is governed by a new economic model that marks a radical break from the Mao and Deng eras. Ms. Hsueh will demonstrate how the Chinese government has selectively imposed new regulations even with the introduction of competition. This talk will be introduced by Stanley Lubman.
November 9, 2011
The Global Marketplace: Keys to Success
BCLBE and Latham & Watkins are presenting a timely and informative conference pertinent to companies operating in a global economy. Experts from around the world will provide “on-the-ground” best practices to successfully manage operations overseas. Topics to be discussed at this conference include: Looking East: Opportunities for Doing Business in China Crossing the Border: Enforcement of IP Rights at the U.S. and European Borders Ensuring Global Privacy Compliance Navigating Regulatory Risk in an Age of Enforcement Trends in Global Antitrust Enforcement – Single-Firm Conduct & High Tech Companies.
Safra Catz, President and CFO of Oracle Corporation, will deliver the keynote.
November 8, 2011
New Corporate Forms:
Flexible Purpose Corporations, B Corps and L3Cs
Susan H. Mac Cormac, Morrison Foerster
Boalt Hall, Room 110 12:45-1:45 pm
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
To view Susan Mac Cormac's handout click here. To view Senate Bill No. 201 click here.
This talk will explore the positives and negatives of each new corporate form being tested in California and other states and how they differ from traditional corporations, LLCs and partnerships. Ms. Mac Cormac will provide preliminary answers to the questions of whether a new form is even necessary and of which model can best serve to promote environmental sustainability. She will also describe certain realities based on the California and Delaware Corporations Codes and case law beyond the marketing and PR interpretation dominating the press.
November 1, 2011
Do China's Stock Markets Matter?
Carl E. Walter
Boalt Hall, Room 110 12:45-1:45 pm
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
To view Carl E. Walter's powerpoint click here.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China's two stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai. Over these two decades nearly 2,000 Chinese companies have listed domestically and in Hong Kong and beyond raising nearly US $300 billion. There is no doubt but that these markets are important. But in a country with no private property and in which banks account for over 90 percent of all corporate financings just what role do stock markets play and what is their overall significance? This talk explores these two questions and describes how Western legal, accounting and financial concepts have changed China's economic landscape, although perhaps not in any fundamental way.
Co-sponsored with the Center for Chinese Studies.
October 25, 2011
Boalt Hall, Room 12; 11:20-12:35 pm
Euro Crisis in Greece: Causes and Conditions for Reform
Stavros Gadinis and Thanos VeremisThe Eurozone has been in crisis mode for the last two years. Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and now Spain and Italy, have difficulty convincing investors that they can continue to repay their debts. As the crisis is spreading, the rift between Europe's industrial core and its service-oriented periphery is growing. In the distressed countries, aggrieved citizens flood the streets and labor unions go on strike opposing reforms that they see as an onslaught to the welfare state. Thanos Veremis (University of Athens) will discuss the roots of the crisis in Greece's social model in the decade before the crisis, and will explore avenues for reform. Stavros Gadinis will offer comments and kickstart the discussion.
October 6, 2011
Smart Course Planning:
What to Take in Business Law and Why
Boalt Hall, Room 110 12:45-1:45 pm
Co-sponsored with Berkeley Business Law Journal (BBLJ)
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Preview Spring 2012 Courses. Join us for an information session on the business law program at Berkeley Law presented by Ken Taymor and other business law faculty. The program will review the business law classes and highlight new course offerings. This is an opportunity for students to learn how business law courses meet their interests and prepare them for professional practice, whether in a firm, government or NGO position. The program will also review the Business Law Certificate requirements. You do not have to be pursuing a business law concentration to benefit from this overview.
September 29-30, 2011
UCLA academic-practitioner roundtable
Theory and Purpose of the Firm
Robert Bartlett and Prasad Krishnamurthy, among other leading scholars from top universities, will participate in this important roundtable which will examine alternatives to “shareholder primacy” through cross-disciplinary workgroups, plenary discussion, and small group dialogue. The main objective of this session is to look at practical implications of these theories on corporate governance and business performance, uncover research opportunities, and identify approaches for incorporating new theories into business and law curricula.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Corruption & Fraud in China: Challenges for US Companies & Investors
Nathan Bush, O'Melveny & Myers
Boalt Hall, Room 110
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
China offers both opportunities and perils for US companies and investors. Official graft and commercial bribery remain pervasive, raising risks of liability under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, other nations’ foreign bribery statutes like the new UK Bribery Act, and China's domestic law. Dozens of China-based companies listed on foreign stock exchanges are now facing regulatory investigations and shareholder litigation stemming from allegations of fraud and other misconduct. Are these symptoms of the same underlying weaknesses in China's corporate governance standards and opaque regulatory climate? Nate Bush will assess current efforts by US companies, investors, and regulators to confront these challenges, and the implications for China's political and economic climate.
Co-sponsored with the Center for Chinese Studies.
Wednesday, May 1, 2011
Berkeley Business Law Certificate Ceremony
Boalt Hall, Goldberg Room
3:30 pm
Congratulations to our 2011 recipients of the Specialization in Business Law Certificates and the Berkeley Law LL.M. Business Law Certificates.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The Renaissance Life of the Talented Professor Buxbaum
Professor Richard Buxbaum, UC Berkeley, School of Law
Boalt Hall, Room 110
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Watch video (Quicktime required)
Many of you may be familiar with Professor Buxbaum’s leading work in Corporations Law and Comparative Law, and as a pillar of the Berkeley Law’s business faculty. What you may not know is that his many contributions extend far beyond shaping jurisprudence in the United States and around the world. They are also deeply rooted in public service, affirmative action, free speech, national defense, and reparations issues. He is a true Renaissance man and his service to the Berkeley Law community as well as citizens around the world is without parallel. In his final year of teaching at Boalt, BCLBE hosted a special lunchtime talk where Professor Buxbaum reflected on his experiences in the major social and political events of the 1960s and 1970s.
Three major events marked these long and pivotal decades. The youth rebellions that began with the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and moved through U.S. universities to the streets of Paris; the overlapping convulsions of the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights struggles as the country moved from the attack on legal discrimination to the challenge of affirmative action, were highlighted at Berkeley in the rolling Affirmative Action Strike of 1969 and thereafter.
Professor Buxbaum reviewed his experience with these iconic events from the perspective of participant-observer. He served as criminal defense counsel for numerous UC Berkeley students involved in the Free Speech Movement, as civil counsel for participants in campus protests against the Vietnam War, and as criminal defense counsel for students charged with offenses during the recurrent pitched campus battles over affirmative action demands.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thoughts on the Antitrust Implications of Rambus v. FTC
Douglas Melamed, Intel - Sr. Vice President, General Counsel
Boalt Hall, Booth Auditorium, Room 175
10:00 - 11:10 am
RambusInc. v. FTC, 522 F.2d 456 (D.C. Cir. 2008) represents a major recent case at the intersection of antitrust, intellectual property, and industry standard setting.Douglas Melamed, who litigated the case on behalf of Rambusin the D.C. Circuit, will present his thoughts on Rambusand its broader implications for antitrust law.
Mr. Melamed is senior vice president and general counsel at Intel. In this role he is responsible for overseeing all Intel legal matters as well as corporate and government affairs.
Prior to joining Intel in 2009, Mr. Melamed was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of WilmerHale, a global law firm where he was a leader in its Regulatory and Government Affairs Department and served as a chair of the Antitrust and Competition Practice Group. He joined WilmerHale in 1971. He served in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1996 to 2001 as acting assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division and as principal deputy assistant attorney general. While principal deputy, he was responsible for civil non-merger and merger investigations and litigation involving most of the division's litigating sections; the division's appellate matters; policy matters involving, among others, the communications, electricity and tobacco industries; and international antitrust enforcement matters.
Mr.Melamed has authored numerous articles on antitrust and on law and economics. He is a contributing editor of the Antitrust Law Journal and a member of the Board of Academic Advisors of the Journal of Law, Economics and Policy at George Mason University. He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of the NASDAQ exchanges, American Law Institute and the Yale University Council.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Smart Course Planning: What to Take in Business Law and Why
Boalt Hall, Room 110
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Preview Fall 2011 Courses
We introduced faculty, resources available and provided information for Fall 2011. Topics also included information on BCLBE and BBLJ as well as research, the Business Law Certificate Program, and extracurricular activities available to students. BCLBE Executive Director Ken Taymor and other business law faculty attended. Students learned more about what the business law program at Berkeley Law has to offer.
Students are not required to have a business law concentration to benefit from this overview!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Financial Emergency: The Crises that Began and Ended the Decade
The Honorable Michael G. Oxley
Boalt Hall, Room 110
4:00 - 5:30 pm with reception to follow
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Sponsored by the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service
The co-author of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, one of the most far reaching, and controversial, financial regulation laws in American history, spoke about the fiscal crashes that ended the dot-com bubble and that once again have plunged the economy into recession.
A former FBI Agent, Michael G. Oxley was elected to the House of Representatives from Ohio's fourth district in 1981. He eventually went on to serve as Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2001 to 2006, and is best known for his co-authorship of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Oxley led the panel through the aftermath of the tech bubble, the difficult post-9/11 period, and the rash of corporate scandals early in the decade that destroyed investor confidence and sent the markets into a tailspin.
Monday, March 28, 2011
How Diversity is Viewed in the French Business Community
Jean-Claude Beajour, Cabinet Hobson
Boalt Hall, Room 105
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Sponsored by the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice Ruth Chance Lecture Series
France provides a remarkable lens for exploring racism. The country is committed through its revolutionary republican, antiaristocratic principles to the denial of the relevance of race or any other form of identity other than citizenship. Yet inequalities based on race, ethnicity and religion are glaring. In the face of opposition to what are often described as "American-style" civil rights remedies, French business interests, wanting the economic benefits of competing in a diverse world market, are leading a campaign to legitimize the principle of embracing diversity.
Jean-Claude Beaujour is a leading member of the Paris Bar. He practices international law and is also a pro bono civil rights lawyer, dividing his time between Paris, Japan and Brazil. He has served as an expert on constitutional and corporate law for the Supreme Court of the Ivory Coast, as a legal expert at the United Nations promoting the rule of law in Djibouti, and as a Senior Lecturer in Conflict Resolution at the l'Ecole National d'Administration. In 2005, Mr. Beaujour was named a "Chevalier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite."
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Top 10 Things You Should Learn in Law School if You Want to Work with Great Entrepreneurs
Donna Petkanics, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Robert J. Majteles, Treehouse Capital LLC, BCLBE Director
Boalt Hall, Room 110
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Donna Petkanics of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Rob Majteles of Treehouse Capital shared their insider experiences with the Boalt community, offering a unique perspective from both sides of the equation.
Ms. Petkanics has represented a wide range of growth companies with an emphasis on corporate and securities issues, both privately held and publicly traded. Ms. Petkanics has served on the Board of Directors of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and has held a number of operating roles, including Managing Director of the firm for six years. Prior to law school, she was a staff economist in the Executive Office of the President during the Carter Administration.
Mr. Majteles is a former attorney and CEO and now manages an investment firm and serves as an active and involved board member for the companies in Treehouse's portfolio and as an advisory partner to a variety of investment funds.
Friday, March 11, 2011
2011 Spring Symposium
“Financial Regulatory Reform: Dodd-Frank and Beyond”
Symposium hosted by BCLBE in collaboration with Berkeley Business Law Journal (BBLJ).
To access the Symposium papers, speaker resources and other materials on the background and implementation of Dodd-Frank, click here. A video recording of the presentations is available here.
Welcome, Launch and Keynote Address (Quicktime required)
Panel I - Securitization and Governance (Quicktime required)
Panel II - Venture Finance (Quicktime required)
Panel III - Consumer Protection (Quicktime required)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Law, Policy, and Practice on China's Periphery: Minority Areas and Implications for Hong Kong and Taiwan
Pitman Potter, University of British Columbia
Boalt Hall, Room 110
12:45 - 1:45 pm
Watch Video (Quicktime required)
Co-Sponsored with Center for Chinese Studies
Professor Potter's talk focused on his recently published book "Law, Policy, and Practice on China's Periphery: Selective Adaptation and Institutional Capacity." He examined the Chinese government's policies and practices in relationship to the Inner Periphery areas, defined as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia, and the Outer Periphery areas of Hong Kong and Taiwan, focusing on political authority, socio-cultural relations, and economic development. Successive imperial, republican, and communist governments have struggled to maintain sovereignty over the regions surrounding the great river valleys of China.
The peripheries remain very important today, with challenges over national security, access to natural resources, and long-held concerns about relations between ethnic groups continuing to dominate Chinese law, policy and practice in these regions. Prof. Potter's study seeks to build understanding about the current status of China's rule along its continental and maritime peripheries.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Poverty, Privacy, Health and the Environment: New Frontiers at the Federal Trade Commission
David C. Vladeck, Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Boalt Hall - Room 100
12:45 - 1:45 pm
*This event is co-sponsored by: Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, Consumer Advocacy & Protection Society (CAPS) and Berkeley Technology Law Journal.
In this special lecture, Vladeck discussed his FTC agenda, which includes fighting predatory lending, defending online privacy, and ensuring that 'green' products are green.Consumer advocates lauded David C. Vladeck’s 2009 appointment as Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, saying it signaled a serious intent on the part of the Obama Administration to take a much more aggressive approach to protecting consumers against unfair, deceptive and/or fraudulent practices. Vladeck had practiced law for more than 30 years at Public Citizen Litigation Group, the litigation arm of Public Citizen, an advocacy organization founded by Ralph Nader.Vladeck has handled a broad range of litigation, including First Amendment, health and safety, civil rights, class actions, and open government cases. He is considered one the nation's foremost public interest litigators. He was an inaugural member of the 'Public Interest Hall of Fame,' and was honored by Legal Times in May 2008 as one of the most influential lawyers in Washington, D.C., over the past 30 years.Vladeck represented Members of Congress and environmental groups in a successful challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency's wholesale failure to implement the Clean Air Amendments of 1990. He has played a lead role in the development of the First Amendment 'commercial speech doctrine,' arguing one landmark case before the United States Supreme Court. He has handled a number of prison reform cases and a number of key separation of powers cases, including successful cases attacking the Reagan Administration's effort to impound monies appropriated for low-income housing and job training programs.