The number of law firm partners who identify as women has more than doubled since 1993. Will these gender parity advances regress as employers curb diversity efforts? To answer that question, we look at the organizational dynamics that affect women’s opportunities and outcomes through the lens of newsworthy deal teams. These teams, averaging five lawyers, are at the power center of law firms. Our analysis of over 10,000 deals and more than 50,000 attorneys for the period 2013-2023 reveal evidence that women’s gains may be sustainable without continued DEI interventions. While women are less likely to be at the top of a team and more likely to be on smaller transactions and cases, they are slowly advancing up the team ladder and gaining power. Over the past decade, the representation of women on leadership teams has grown 50%. Women are taking more seats at the deal table, increasing from one out of five spots to nearly one out of three. Women have not yet achieved parity in law firms but are on a positive trajectory in contrast to the early evidence for attorneys who are racial and ethnic minorities. Making the team—the “power five”—reveals existing power structures while also suggesting future authority and control.
Academic and market interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has grown markedly in recent years. Although less prominent, a...
In this chapter, we put forth a case study of Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter. We detail the legal and contractual issues that arose as the parties...
Critics of initiatives to diversify corporate boards frequently rely on efficiency arguments. Diversity opponents marshal four principal claims. First...
The number of law firm partners who identify as women has more than doubled since 1993. Will these gender parity advances regress as employers curb...
As our nation emerges from the shadow of COVID-19, the general public is coming to grips with a stark reality looming over our public schools...
In Cantero v. Bank of America, the US Supreme Court declined to decide whether Bank of America Corp. must pay interest on New York mortgage borrowers’...
Twenty-first-century politics has inspired a new mode of interstate rivalries and reprisals consisting not of the tariffs that plagued the Founding...
Anyone who studies trade secret law in depth knows that the field is complex and nuanced. That complexity can be intimidating to novices. Accordingly...
Anyone who studies patent law in depth knows that the field is complex and nuanced. That complexity can be intimidating to novices. Accordingly, the...
There have been many many, many proposals to use Russia’s frozen assets to help Ukraine. Russia’s invasion violated international law; reparations are...
After several years of dramatic growth, ESG investing seems to have entered a period of retrenchment. While it is impossible to predict the future...
To succeed in their trade, thieves need a place to stash their ill-gotten gains. Should the United States become a safe haven for international...
Lenders are perfectly free to decide for themselves whether, when, how, to whom and on what terms they will extend credit to a sovereign borrower. But...
Although ethical critiques of markets are longstanding, modern academic debates about the “moral limits of markets” (MLM) tend to be fairly limited in...
Consequential damages have been a cornerstone of contract doctrine since the broken crankshaft in Hadley v. Baxendale. And the Hadley rule is one of...
Contract terms that improve or reduce the likelihood of repayment of a debt should impact its price. That’s basic economics. But what about a contract...
Engaging New Cases: The book uses fresh, timely cases in agency and partnership to show how business law is relevant in a variety of practices...