Author: Avi Resnick and Melissa Zacharias

On October 10, 2018, Fordham University School of Law, in conjunction with Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP held their annual A.A. Sommer, Jr. Lecture on Corporate, Securities and Financial Law. This year’s lecture featured a fireside chat with Robert Cook, President and CEO of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Multiple members of Mr. Sommer’s family, as well as financial industry leaders were in attendance for this year’s lecture. The night began with a short introduction from the Dean of Fordham University School of Law, Mathew Diller, who discussed the legacy of Mr. Sommer. Mr. Cook began his lecture by discussing…

Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $13 billion plan to transform the John F. Kennedy International Airport (“JFK”) into a world-class 21st century airport.[1]  90% of the capital for this undertaking comes from private investment.[2]  This plan seeks to consolidate and centralize the existing six operating terminals at the airport (Terminals 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8), a popular model in an era of airport modernization.[3] $7 billion has been allocated to the airport’s new south side and it will be developed by the Terminal One Group, a consortium of Lufthansa, Air France, Japan Airlines and…

Shareholder proxy voting, a process so central to the operations of modern corporations, is poised to be blockchain’s next widespread application. Shareholder voting through proxies has become increasingly common at the annual general meetings (“AGMs”) of modern corporations. Depending on the makeup of a corporation’s charter and bylaws, shareholder votes are required for a variety of actions including board elections, bylaw amendments, and mergers. The constant evolution of corporate governance and the proxy voting process has resulted in a number of inefficiencies that impact corporations on a daily basis.[1] How the System is Flawed The inadequacies of the corporate voting…

Compared to previous recoveries, the recovery following the 2008 economic crash has seen lagging wage growth despite falling unemployment and steady economic growth.[1]  Economists point to a confluence of factors to explain this phenomenon, such as: automation, globalization, lagging minimum wage, and outsourcing.[2]  Poor wage growth fosters greater income inequality,[3] which in turn is highly correlated with political polarization.[4]  It logically follows that adopting policies aimed at growing wages will help to bring people together and create economic opportunity. This is not the first time that technology has created a headwind for wage growth in the United States. At the…