Michigan Law launching bold new Directors’ College

October 10, 2011
Contact:
  • umichnews@umich.edu

ANN ARBOR—The University of Michigan Law School’s inaugural Directors’ College for Global Business and Law, featuring experts from academia, international business, and private practice, is being designed with business in India and China in mind.

The inaugural College is an exclusive, invitation-only gathering for corporate directors and senior business leaders and will be held April 18-20, 2012, at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. The gathering will feature sophisticated analysis and advice regarding issues facing directors and officers of leading international companies engaging with business and finance across the globe, especially in Asia.

Foremost on the list of topics at the event is directors’ and officers’ exposure to liability in China and India, and corporate liability for U.S. multinationals investing in those Asian powerhouse economies, said Professor Vikramaditya Khanna, Faculty Director of the Directors’ College. Other key topics: corporate law and governance in Asia; domestic and cross-border capital markets; specific issues arising on investment (e.g., environmental, labor, land acquisition); specific issues on selling products and services in India and China; the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and political, economic, legal and regulatory risk evaluation and amelioration.

“There is a tremendous amount of growth in markets outside the United States, especially in China and India,” said Khanna, an expert on corporate and securities laws, the law in India, corporate crime, corporate governance in emerging markets, and law and economics. “With the University of Michigan Law School’s long-standing strength in international corporate law and cross-border securities regulation, we’re in a strong position to help senior corporate officials maximize their companies’ potential globally, and address challenges which can determine the success or failure of their global business.”

The discussion won’t be limited to business in India and China. Corporate law, insider trading, corporate executive liability, Dodd-Frank, and recent enforcement activities within the United States also will be covered.

“A shrinking world calls for business leaders and lawyers who are accustomed to working across national borders,” said Michigan Law Dean Evan Caminker. “Our rich international law tradition stretches back to our founding, and our history of producing some of the top minds in business goes back just as far. The Directors’ College is a natural outgrowth of our history, and we’re eager to greet the business leaders of today and tomorrow this April.”

Experts from private practice and the corporate world who are scheduled to speak include:

  • Larry Thompson, former senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary for PepsiCo
  • Susan G. Esserman, a former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and now a partner at Steptoe and Johnson in Washington, D.C.
  • Myron Steele, Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.
  • Robert Kapp, former president of the U.S.-China Business Council.
  • Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center and Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development at the Brookings Institution.
  • Gao Xiqing, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Investment Officer of the China Investment Corporation, China’s sovereign investment fund.
  • Kevin McCabe, executive vice president and chief auditor at Wells Fargo & Company.
  • Robert Mundheim, of counsel to Shearman & Sterling and formerly senior chief. executive vice president and general counsel of Salomon Smith Barney Holdings Inc.
  • Dr. Rajeev Eberoi, heads the legal and compliance team at the Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited in India.

A few of the leading Michigan Law academics participating in the College along with Khanna include:

  • Nicholas C. Howson, an expert in Chinese law and legal institutions, corporate law and securities regulation.
  • Michael Barr, who recently returned from a stint as Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions, who studies international finance, transnational law, and financial institutions.
  • Adam Pritchard, an expert in securities regulation and coauthor of one of the most widely used securities law casebooks
  • Mark West, an expert on Japan.
  • Dan Crane, an expert in both domestic and international antitrust law.
  • David Uhlmann, the Justice Department’s former top environmental crimes prosecutor.
  • Alicia Davis, a mergers and acquisitions expert.

Additional information is available at the Directors’ College for Global Business and Law website, at http://www.law.umich.edu/directorscollege.