Bite-Sized Business Law

Currently valued at over $4 trillion, the leveraged credit market in the United States is one of the fastest-growing asset classes, driving a strong demand for well-trained credit analysts. Today’s guest is Michael Gatto, an author, adjunct professor at Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business and Columbia Business School, and Partner at Silver Point Capital, a $30 billion credit-focus...

The New York State Bar Association has spoken! An April report by its esteemed Task Force examines the legal, social, and ethical impact of AI on the legal profession, as well as how the new guidelines will impact businesses everywhere. In this episode, we interview one of the 16 members of the AI Task Force about his first-hand experience at the helm of developing this new frontier. Jonathan Arms...

Today, we delve into the captivating world of white-collar crime to pose a question that almost no one is asking. This is not your typical true crime story, but rather one individual’s staggering fall from the C-suite to a prison cell. In this episode, we explore the best ways to punish white-collar crimes and debate whether or not jail is an appropriate or effective solution. Here to contribute h...

Dig in to the most compelling business law issues of the moment with host Amy Martella, the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Bite-Sized Business Law tackles big issues in small doses through interviews with corporate attorneys, industry experts, public figures, and business law scholars. Stay informed and gain deeper understanding with invaluable...

Is litigation funding driving the next big wave of mass tort cases and if so, what incentives does that create? Samir Parikh and Emily Siegel join the podcast today to help us explore the $15 billion litigation finance industry. Samir, a professor of corporate and bankruptcy law at Wake Forest Law, discusses the opaque nature of some financiers and their influence on mass tort litigation, often pr...

Go inside this most infamous financial crime with guest Stephen Fishbein, who has argued some of the most influential insider trading cases in modern history. Almost everyone, no matter your knowledge base, has an opinion about insider trading. And most peoples’ opinions are that it’s evil. But do you know exactly what insider trading is (not even Congress has defined it) and how you are affected...

Corporate boards use their expertise to advance the best interests of the corporation and its shareholders. But they’re only human. What if we could create a board made up of entirely unbiased, indefatigable members who never falter and never tire? Today we explore the idea of inviting artificial intelligence into the boardroom with Sergio Alberto Gramitto Ricci, an associate professor of law at t...

American financier, Michael Milken, has been called many things, from the junk bond king to a criminal and a fraud. But he has also been credited as the most important person to alter the financial markets since JP Morgan, with some even estimating that he has created more wealth for shareholders than any financier in modern history. Milken is perhaps best known for his role in the development of...

Do shareholder proposals compel corporations to speak in ways that violate the First Amendment? Although shareholder proposals have been studied from numerous angles, the concept of compelled speech is fairly novel. And this question raises several other inquiries, including the nature of corporate purpose and the rationale behind negative speech rights in the first place. Joining us to discuss th...

The perception of defaulted sovereign debt investing has swayed between a masterful strategy and a divisive one that preys on poorer nations. To help us make sense of this, we are joined by one of the godfathers of sovereign debt investing, Jay Newman. Jay has had a remarkable career in international finance, he’s a trailblazer in sovereign debt investing, and now, with his first novel, Undermoney...

It seems that the very purpose of a corporation, to make money over the long run, has been dashed by incentives to perform quarter after quarter. As the American attention span diminishes while our hunger for instant gratification and constant growth intensifies, how should the law evolve? How should corporations adapt? What is the SEC’s role in reigning it all in? During this episode, we are join...

Insurance is central to our economy and lives, from global catastrophes to athletes’ pitching arms. Unsexy at first blush but completely fascinating upon deeper examination, insurance is an undeniably essential area of the law. Today’s guest has more than three decades of experience in litigating re-insurance and insurance coverage disputes: Michael Goldstein, Senior Counsel at Mound Cotton Wollan...

Bitcoin is a controversial subject, but it is no secret that it is becoming an incredible opportunity for investment. Today’s guest, Anthony Scaramucci, was one of the earliest supporters of Bitcoin and has had an incredible career in business as an investment fund manager and in politics as former White House communications director. He joins us today to talk about Bitcoin’s big ETF victory. Tuni...

Today on Bite-Sized Business Law, we discuss the very bad day that Elon Musk had recently as a result of the Delaware Court of Chancery opinion that started with a simple question: “Was the richest person in the world overpaid?” This is the first time that a court of law has overturned a board’s decision on compensation. Here to walk us through exactly what happened (and why) is the esteemed Richa...

Back in 2019, the office-sharing company, WeWork, seemed like the next big Silicon Valley success story. WeWork was opening shared office space around the world and was valued at a staggering $47 billion. Since then, the company has suffered one of the most spectacular corporate collapses in recent US history. Following its 2021 IPO, WeWork witnessed a shocking 98% decline in value, ultimately lea...

Change is coming for corporate America. While many of us expect it to arrive in the form of climate disclosures, the SEC is yet to release the proposals they came up with in 2022. How these rules are written is a key factor in shaping the way businesses respond to climate change and other ESG issues. Joining us to explain where things currently stand is Stanford Law School Professor, Colleen Honig...

For years, legal scholars have argued that the Federal Crime Code is broken. One key consequence of this is the alarming rise in white-collar and corporate crime — a shocking portion of which goes misreported and misunderstood. Joining us today to shed light on this urgent topic is Miriam Baer, Vice Dean and Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, whose new book, Myths and Misunderstan...

Joining us today is William Moon, a Professor of Business Law at the University of Maryland School of Law, to discuss his essay ‘Beyond Profit Motives’ which he wrote in response to Stephen Bainbridge’s book The Profit Motive . Will reviews Bainbridge’s work, offering an alternative theory of corporate purpose beyond what Will refers to as “ruthless profit maximization for shareholders.” With expe...

Nothing has captured our collective attention quite like the emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the past year. During this episode, we speak to Bradford Newman, partner at Baker McKenzie and Chair of the firm’s North America Trade Secrets Practice and an expert in AI, IP, blockchain, and crypto. Tuning in, you’ll hear how Bradford gained his expertise and learn from his wealth of w...

The recent Supreme Court decision on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis left the nation debating whether the First Amendment grants business owners the constitutional right to turn away certain protected classes of individuals. It also raised other issues about corporate identity and personhood and made us ask: how did we get to the point where courts are treating corporate actors as indistinguishable fro...

Today on Bite-Sized Business Law, we tackle a topic that we’ve only alluded to in previous episodes, which is the funding of mass tort litigation by outside financiers. Dubbed “opaque capital” by one of today’s guests, its use for funding complex mass tort litigations gives rise to some tricky legal, business, and ethical predicaments that we discuss in detail. Joining us for this conversation are...

The banking turmoil that rocked the past year is the most significant system-wide banking stress since the 2008 financial crisis. Now, regulators are rushing to implement measures to respond to those bank failures and mitigate their impact. In July, federal banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the FDIC, proposed new rules around capital requirements and risk, bu...

What does capitalism owe to the common good? This is the question raised by Taming the Street: The Old Guard, the New Deal, and FDR’s Fight to Regulate American Capitalism , a riveting new book from award-winning financial journalist and New York Times bestselling author Diana Henriques. Those who saw The Wizard of Lies and The Monster of Wall Street will recognize Diana, whose research and writin...

The epic investment Burford Capital made in the recent Argentinian YPF oil case delivered incredible results and over $16 billion awarded to plaintiffs. Joining us today on the Bite-Sized Business Law Podcast is commercial litigator and YPF expert, Gabrielle Vázquez to discuss this case. Tune in to hear what this case entailed, Gabrielle’s involvement, the rulings and how they affected the market,...

Back in November of 2022, major cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This came after the revelation that the company had significant liquidity problems and that its founders were likely misusing customer funds. Since then it’s been one newsworthy development after another, chief among which was the arrest of FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, followed by his extradition to the Uni...