A paper co-authored by Professors Kristen Eichensehr and Cathy Hwang of the University of Virginia School of Law has been accepted to the 2022 Harvard/Yale/Stanford Junior Faculty Forum.
Eichensehr and Hwang will present “National Security Creep in Corporate Transactions,” forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review, during the June 9-10 conference at Harvard Law School. No more than 20 scholars are chosen each year from among those submitting to the event, in which hosting rotates among the three schools. Papers are selected through a blind submissions process.
Eichensehr and Hwang’s article examines national security’s rapidly expanding influence on corporate transactions in the United States.
“In recent years, hundreds of transactions have been reviewed, renegotiated, and even blocked, often without the opportunity for real appeal, and new restrictions on outbound investment have come into force,” they write. “This expansion of national security’s impact on corporate transactions — which this Article calls ‘national security creep’ — raises serious theoretical questions in national security law and contract law and has important practical implications for dealmaking and the economy.”
In one high-profile example, Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech sold the dating app Grindr after the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reportedly informed Kunlun that its ownership of Grindr was a national security risk. Kunlun also had not submitted its acquisition of Grindr for CFIUS review, so the committee ordered its sale over concerns about the personal data Grindr handles.
The Harvard/Yale/Stanford forum was created to encourage the work of scholars recently appointed to tenure-track positions. Meetings are held each spring on a rotating basis among the law campuses of Stanford, Yale and Harvard, though the event is widely attended by scholars from numerous law schools.
Eichensehr writes and teaches about cybersecurity, foreign relations, international law and national security law. She directs the National Security Law Center and is affiliated with the LawTech Center. She is also a faculty senior fellow at UVA’s Miller Center.
Hwang’s research and teaching focus on business law, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate contracts and corporate governance. She is affiliated with the John W. Glynn, Jr. Law & Business Program.
Founded in 1819, the University of Virginia School of Law is the second-oldest continuously operating law school in the nation. Consistently ranked among the top law schools, Virginia is a world-renowned training ground for distinguished lawyers and public servants, instilling in them a commitment to leadership, integrity and community service.
