- About Pitt Law
- Welcome from the Interim Dean
- Facilities
- Dean's Office
- Faculty Directory
- Staff Directory
- History
- Board of Visitors Members
- Community Engagement
- Office of Equity & Inclusive Excellence
- Land Acknowledgement
- The Resilience and Engagement Project
- Building Resilience Case Studies on Student Interventions & Psychological Insights Conference
- Summary
- Project Description
- Students and Faculty Talk Resilience
- How does the in-class facilitation conversation work?
- How to Facilitate In-Class Discussion
- Suggested Project Timeline and Milestone
- Tips for Leading a Discussion
- Sample Lesson Plan for Leading a Discussion Group
- Sample Student Responses and Advice
- Project Results
- Our Papers
- The Student Voice
- Helpful Resources
- Handbook
- Glossary
- Agenda
- Zoom Backgrounds
- Admissions
- Academics
- Centers & Institutes
- Bioethics & Health Law
- Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice
- Center for International Legal Education
- CILE Overview
- Global Scholars Program
- Rule of Law Fellowship Program
- CILE 25th Anniversary
- JD Opportunities
- LLM Program
- SJD Program
- Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD)
- Visiting Professors
- Visiting Scholars
- Study Abroad
- International Internships
- Moot Court Experience
- The CISG Song
- Alumni News
- Visiting Scholars
- Support CILE
- Contact CILE
- News, Events and Media
- Center for Text Analytic Methods in Legal Studies
- Future Law Project
- Hickton Center for Community Legal Services & Clinical Legal Education
- John P. Gismondi Civil Litigation Program
- Career Services
- Resources
- A-Z Resources Guide
- Academic Calendar
- Dean of Students
- Student Event Calendar
- Academic Support
- Bar Exams
- Barco Law Building Hours
- Courses and Curriculum
- Courses & Curriculum Overview
- Catalog of Courses
- First-Year Curriculum
- Pitt Law Academy
- Courses by Requirement
- Departmental Consent
- Required Textbooks by Class
- Schedule of Classes Spring 2025
- Schedule of Intersession Spring 2025
- Schedule of Classes Fall 2024
- Schedule of Classes Spring 2024
- Schedule of Intersession 2024
- Schedule of Classes Fall 2023
- Schedule of Classes Spring 2023
- Schedule of Intersession 2023
- Schedule of Classes Fall 2022
- Exams
- Grades and Transcripts
- Graduation and Diplomas
- Incoming Student Orientation
- Information Technology
- Marketing & Communications
- Office of Equity & Inclusive Excellence
- Ombudsperson
- Policies and Procedures
- Registration Services
- Student Bar Association (SBA)
- Student Organizations
- Alumni
Law Intersession: Benefit Corporation Law & Governance
Class Term:
Spring Term 2022-2023
Catalog Number:
5818
Type:
Lecture
Credits:
1 (0 Contact, 0 Field)
Priority:
Intersession
Full Year Course:
No
Category:
Standard Courses
Additional Information
Students will know what benefit corporations are and gain familiarity with advising benefit corporations vs. traditional corporations. Students will think critically about the role of corporations in society, the laws that regulate them, and what should be done (if anything) to change them. Students will have an understanding of what it means to be a general counsel for an early-stage benefit corporation.
Grading Details
Grading will be based 100% on final paper
Description
The idea that corporations must be run solely for shareholders’ financial benefit has been the guiding star of corporate law. However, emerging data shows that when the interests of a corporation’s stakeholders – it’s customers and employees, the environment, the community, and greater society – are considered alongside shareholder interests, the corporation generates significantly better financial returns. As this financial trend intensifies at the same time society is demanding corporations be more socially conscious, corporate leaders are seeking guidance on how to embed stakeholder values into their legal structure.
A benefit corporation is a legal structure that extends the duties of corporate leaders beyond consideration of shareholder interests to include the interests of all stakeholders. In this course, students will learn about benefit corporations and how advising clients with this stakeholder-centric legal structure differs from advising a traditional corporation. This will be done in two parts. First, we will take a critical look at the evolution of shareholder primacy and its consequences against the emergence of stakeholder-centric decision-making. Concurrently, we will conduct a course-long simulation of advising and forming a new benefit corporation with the goal of understanding how stakeholder values can be embedded into a company’s legal structure, thereby putting the theory into immediate practice. The goal of this course is to have students think critically about the current state of corporate law, how benefit corporations are an answer to that, and what it means to be legal counsel to this kind of entity.