State Labor Legislation Enacted in 2012

Laws concerning child labor, equal employment opportunity, human trafficking, immigration legislation, independent contractors, and prevailing wages were among the most active areas for state lawmakers in 2012

An end to too big to let fail? The Dodd-Frank Act's orderly liquidation authority

One of the changes introduced by the sweeping new financial market legislation of the Dodd–Frank Act is the provision of a formal process for liquidating large financial firms—something that would have been useful in 2008, when troubles at Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merrill Lynch threatened to damage the entire U.S. financial system. While it may not be the end of the too-big-to-fail problem, the orderly liquidation authority is an important new tool in the regulatory toolkit. It will enable regulators to safely close and wind up the affairs of those distressed financial firms whose failure could destabilize the financial system.Bank failures ; Financial Regulatory Reform (Dodd-Frank Act)

Stripdowns and bankruptcy: lessons from agricultural bankruptcy reform

One type of financial reform being proposed to deal with the aftermath of the housing crisis is allowing bankruptcy judges the authority to modify residential mortgages in a way referred to as a stripdown. The reform is seen by some as a partial solution to the rise in foreclosures and as a Pandora’s box by others. But the debate is not new one. The 1980s farm foreclosure crisis sparked similar proposals and concerns. Congress decided to enact legislation that contained a stripdown provision, resulting in the creation of Chapter 12 in the bankruptcy code. The effects of Chapter 12 stripdown authority after its enactment shed light on the efficacy of allowing bankruptcy judges similar authority for housing loans.Foreclosure ; Bankruptcy ; Agricultural credit ; Mortgage loans

Marketing Strategies of Connecticut River Valley Tobacco For The Use as Cigar Binders And Cigar Wrappers

This paper explores how marketing strategies of Connecticut River Valley tobacco evolved over the past three-hundred and seventy-eight years. Qualitative data collected via personal and phone interviews with tobacco growers who produce tobacco along a stretch of the Connecticut River between central Connecticut and northern Massachusetts. Data was also collected from publications, the United States Department of Agriculture, the worldwide web, and museums. Tobacco buyers were also interviewed, in the same manner as the growers, and their answers were also categorized. Although the techniques for growing crops throughout all of agriculture have changed during the period of 1640 until the present, there have been few changes with the New England tobacco crop. The growers two primary marketing strategies have always been: grow the highest quality crop possible and produce a type of tobacco that is desirable. The growers in the Connecticut River Valley had been progressive with the actual production of the tobacco crop for the first two-hundred and eighty years, but the past one hundred years appears to have stagnated to a point, especially in regards with how the crop is sold. Even with a steady decline in acres in the previous decades, the tobacco crop has played a significant role in the development of the communities of the region

Mechanistic studies in azo - dye formation

Diazotisation and aso=coupling reactions have been studied and the results are reported. A kinetic study of the acid catalysed diazotisation of various aniline derivatives has been made. The substrates considered were 2,4-dinitro-aniline, 4-nitroaniline, sulphanilaraide (aniline-4-sulphonamide) and sulphanilic acid (aniline-4-sulphonic acid). A new pK(_a) value of l.4 is reported for sulphanilamide. A study of the diazotisation of sulphanilic acid and sulphanilamide in the presence of Cl¯, Br¯, SCN¯, and SC(NH(_2))(_2) shows that the general catalytic trend Cl¯ NOBr >; NOSCN >NOS(^+)C(NH(_2))(_2) is followed. No catalysis was observed in the case of 2,4=dinitroaniline and this has-been interpreted in terms of a rapid reversible nitrosation in which the rate of the denitrosation step is greater than the rate of decomposition of the intermediate nitrosammonium ion. The bimolecular rate constants obtained for sulphanilic acid and sulphanilamide approach the diffusion controlled limit for this process in the case of NOCl and NOBr, Also reported is a study of the diazotisation of two heteroaromatic amines: 2-amino-5-nitrothiazole and 3-amino-l,2,4-triazoleo Catalysis by acid and the nucleophiles Cl¯ and SCN¯ has been observed. The catalytic and reactivity trends described above have been noted for reaction of these heteroaroraaticso The Pk(_a) value for 2-amino—5-nitrothiazole has-been determined and agrees well with the literature values. In addition to the above studies of diazotisation mechanisms, results are reported of a study of the leaving abilities of various electrofugal leaving groups X during ipso=coupling of 4=nitroaniline with 4-X,N- dimethylanilineso The sequence of leaving abilities has been determined by product yield studies. Rate constants for attack of ArN(^+)(_2) have also been determined. It is suggested that a substrate molecule (X-Ar-NMe(_2)) acts as a base in removing the group X from the Wheland intermediate

How well does bankruptcy work when large financial frms fail? Some lessons from Lehman Brothers

There is disagreement about whether large and complex financial institutions should be allowed to use U.S. bankruptcy law to reorganize when they get into financial difficulty. We look at the Lehman example for lessons about whether bankruptcy law might be a better alternative to bailouts or to resolution under the Dodd-Frank Act’s orderly liquidation authority. We find that there is no clear evidence that bankruptcy law is insufficient to handle the resolution of large complex financial firms.Bankruptcy ; Financial risk management

Jock of the Bushveld

https://commons.und.edu/settler-literature/1194/thumbnail.jp

Legal Future Shock: The Role of Larger Law Firms by the End of the Century

The Growth of Large Law Firms and Its Effect on the Legal Profession and Legal Education, Symposiu