Sidebars

Banking regulation

Bank regulations have long used various restrictions to protect against crises, but Prasad Krishnamurthy shows how recent technological and institutional innovation—and shifting thoughts about competition—now curb the ability to limit it. His paper says certain restrictions can bolster current bank regulation and industry stability.

keys

A study co-authored by Robert Bartlett finds that mortgage lenders charge higher interest rates and earn 11 to 17 percent more profit on loans to African Americans and Latinos than to whites. The study says African American and Latino home buyers pay up to $500 million more in interest each year than whites with comparable credit scores.

A study by Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center offers insights from 21 nations on ways to prevent child marriage. Commissioned by Save the Children, the study draws upon more than 375 reports as well as interviews with practitioners from around the world. Child marriage affects an estimated 12 million girls each year.

metoo

The #MeToo movement prompted organizations to hurriedly create or update anti-harassment protocols. Noting the perils of this tactic, Lauren Edelman’s new article cites how companies often frame incidents as poor management, not harassment, and how the mere presence of a policy routinely prompts courts to shield them from legal liability.

zimring_franklin

A new study co-authored by Franklin Zimring questions laws allowing the indefinite custody of sexually violent predators after their sentences end. He says research showing California predators are far less likely to re-commit their crime than robbers, burglars, and drug offenders was suppressed because it threatened the legitimacy of state laws.

puzzle piece

How does the U.S. Supreme Court decide whether to rule on a patent case? Rather than settling a split among two U.S. appeals courts—given that patent appeals often land in the Federal Circuit—a paper by Tejas Narcechania says the high court eyes a different kind of split: whether two fields of law conflict over the issue in question.

cybercrime

Because intermediaries are needed for services such as web hosting, marketing, and product delivery, the law is often used to deter their access to cybercriminals. In a recent article with two co-authors, Chris Hoofnagle examines the impact of enforcement methods, evaluates various interventions, and probes their success in curbing cybercrime.

Tobin's Q

Tobin’s q is the ratio between an asset’s market value and its replacement value. Robert Bartlett and Frank Partnoy address why it has become an over-simplified form of evaluation, and how it leads to problematic errors. Their recent paper shows how results differ—and are more reliable—when alternative approaches are used.

Alexa Koenig ’13 probes how international criminal tribunals should obtain data stored electronically by private, U.S.-incorporated companies for use as evidence. Her paper notes five options, and argues that the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act is not an absolute barrier to International Criminal Court investigations in the U.S.

Sonia Katyal

Sonia Katyal notes that the surging transgender rights movement has forced a rethinking of core legal presumptions associated with science, sex, and gender. As scholars and policymakers respond to this complexity, Katyal’s award-winning article offers a new way to consider the relationship between sex and gender.

corporate-compliance

Stavros Gadinis and Amelia Miazad see chief compliance and legal officers becoming lead actors in ensuring companies’ sound risk management and ethical leadership. Their paper says that while holding corporate boards accountable has long been seen as elusive, that may soon change with the growth of compliance department reporting.

Bankrupty Code

Abbye Atkinson takes issue with how non-dischargeable debts are treated in the Bankruptcy Code. Her recent article asserts that the Code’s three main reasons for precluding debts from discharge seem arbitrary, and have harsh implications for disenfranchised communities in which such debts may be concentrated.

oconnell_anne_joseph

Amid criticism of the Trump Administration’s pace for filling top government posts, Anne Joseph O’Connell paints a more detailed and less jarring picture. Her new report finds the administration submitting nominations “at a decent though not remarkable clip,” and striving to fill key openings in courts and agencies.

Nearly 120 countries have national human rights institutions. A new paper co-authored by Katerina Linos describes what makes these institutions effective, or ineffective, at bridging international law and domestic practices. It finds that formal safeguards and the ability to process individual complaints fuel success and build broad support.