A Blended Approach to Reducing the Costs of Shareholder Litigation

Authors

Valian A. Afshar, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Multiforum litigation and federal securities law class actions impose heavy costs on corporations and their shareholders without producing proportionate benefits. Both are largely the result of the agency problem between shareholders and their attorneys, driven more by the attorneys’ interests in generating fees than by the interests of their clients. In response to each of these problems, commentators have recommended a number of solutions. Chief among them are forum selection and mandatory arbitration provisions in a corporation’s charter or bylaws. This Note recommends that corporations unilaterally adopt both forum selection and mandatory arbitration bylaws to address shareholder lawsuits under state corporate and federal securities law, respectively. This Note also explains why each solution is particularly appropriate for its class of shareholder claims.

Recommended Citation

Valian A. Afshar, A Blended Approach to Reducing the Costs of Shareholder Litigation, 113 Mich. L. Rev. 315 (2014).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol113/iss2/4