The Regent University Law Review?s symposium entitled ?Emerging Issues in Social Enterprise? was a great success this past weekend.? The symposium consisted of a reception Friday night, two academic panels on Saturday morning, a primarily practitioner panel on Saturday afternoon, a CLE led by SocEntLaw?s own Kyle Westaway, and a gourmet three-course meal with Michael Pirron (CEO of Impact Makers, a founding Certified B Corporation) as the keynote speaker.
On the first academic panel, Professor Joan Heminway discussed securities law issues surrounding social enterprises, and briefly mentioned some of her research on crowdfunding (See, e.g., here).? Professor Cass Brewer followed with a presentation that suggested eight ways the L3C statutes might be reformed, including statutory language making explicit that investments other than program related investments (?PRIs?) would be freed from the requirement that ?no significant purpose? [be] the production of income or the appreciation of property.?? On the second academic panel, Professor Lyman Johnson discussed the history of the traditional corporations, the longstanding debate over the shareholder wealth maximization norm, and corporate governance opportunities and issues presented by the benefit corporation form.? Professor Dana Brakman Reiser then discussed the Stag Hunt Game that social entrepreneurs and investors engage in when pursuing the goals of social enterprise.? She discussed the need of assurances from each group that they would pursue a blend of social purpose and private profit.? As a solution, she suggested financing social enterprises through ?flypaper? ? long-term (10-15 years), low-yield (below-market), convertible (upon sale of the company) debt.
The afternoon panel included Greg Bergethon (corporate attorney and CPA),?Professor Marcia Narine (a Visiting Assistant Professor, with significant legal and corporate experience, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law), Michael Pirron, and Kyle Westaway.? They each described their experiences with social enterprise and ways to address the practical issues facing those in this space.? In the CLE, Kyle Westaway led the audience through the entity choice process for social entrepreneurs.? He also addressed management, tax, financing, and liability issues.? Michael Pirron concluded the symposium with a discussion of Impact Makers, and information regarding the Certified B Corporation and Benefit Corporation movements.
Professors Brewer, Heminway, Johnson, and Narine will all publish original papers with ?the Regent University Law Review, and during the spring semester we will likely link to and discuss their articles.
Source: http://socentlaw.com/2012/10/regent-law-symposium-recap/
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