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IN THIS ISSUE

Letter from Eva Paterson

EJS Annual Conference 2005 at UCLA

Cokorinos; Corporate Think Tanks Then and Now

Law Review Summaries on Corporate Law

Coalition to Monitor Judicial Nominations

Debunking Sanders' Myth: A Rebuttal

Pathways to Leadership in New Mexico

First Annual EJS Fundraiser Features Port Chicago Jazz

EJS, ACS Host Law Prof. Reception

EJS/SALT Panel on Strategic Scholarship

Staff/Board News and Notes

Become a Part of the Equal Justice Society

Newsletter Editors:
Elaine Elinson
Joe Lucero

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EJS Annual Conference to Focus on Corporate Law and Social Injustice
By Rico Oyola, Project Coordinator

The U.S. Corporation has become the dominant institution of our time.

Why can corporations, such as Wal-Mart, violate organizing rights and systematically discriminate against women in pay and in promotions? How have corporations influenced our democracy to maximize short-term shareholder gains? Human rights, living wages, health care, safe workplaces, and peace movements have often been divided as progressives attempt to stem erosion of fundamental principles of justice without fully appreciating common factors that run through all of these issues. One such systemic issue is the misuse of corporate power.

These essential questions will be the focus of the "New Strategies for Justice: Linking Corporate Law with Progressive Social Movements," to be held at UCLA Law School on April 7-9, co-sponsored by EJS and the Center on Corporations, Law & Society based at Seattle University School of Law.

"While political, economic and cultural mechanisms have enabled corporations to shape our societal landscape, the evolution of corporate law principles also has contributed significantly to the expansion of corporate power," explained Dana Gold, law professor at Seattle University and an expert in corporate law. "In many cases that expansion endangers the environment, threatens human health and safety, increases wealth disparities both nationally and globally, and diminishes political and workplace democracy," Gold added.

Responding to these social and economic justice concerns, progressives have often focused their efforts on addressing specific problems, such as employment discrimination, or challenging the high rates of toxic pollution in poor and minority communities.

The plenaries, panels and workshops of the conference will identify the challenges faced by progressives in law and society, and introduce the potential for uniting corporate law with progressive social movements, such as feminism, critical race theory, environmental justice, human rights, liberation theory, citizen action, queer theory, corporate ethics, social entrepreneurship, radical and plural democracy, and global responsibility.

"We believe that corporations can operate with social and environmental justice values that guide their missions and progressive corporate law is instrumental to shaping this change," said Kellye Testy, Dean of Seattle University Law School. "We hope that the conference will articulate a framework for the emergence of progressive corporate law to address these social inequities and shape the corporate responsibility movement."

Dean Testy and EJS board member Professor Eric Yamamoto of the University of Hawai`i will provide the conceptual framework for linking the progressive corporate law movement with Critical Race Theory and progressive social justice movements. Discussions on the theoretical underpinnings of the dominant model of corporate law and governance that has been used by conservatives to argue for an unregulated market place will provide conference participants with a common understanding of corporate law, the history of corporations, the original entrepreneur, corporate charters and the role of law and economics in shaping legal doctrine.

An outstanding roster of nationally recognized experts in the field are confirmed as speakers for the conference, including: John Bonifaz of the National Voting Rights Institute, James Brosnahan , Senior Counsel of Morrison & Forster; Professors Devon Carbado and Cheryl Harris of UCLA School of Law; Charles Cray of the Center for Corporate Policy; Julie Su of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center; and Professor Kent Greenfield of the Boston College School of Law.

The conference will also introduce participants to new internal and external reform strategies that seek to remedy social and economic injustices that flow from the structure of the corporation itself. The conference will conclude with a dialogue among justice advocates on ways that they might apply these new strategies to other social and economic justice efforts.

"We hope that this conference will be an important first step toward identifying goals and values for a new progressive corporate law movement," said EJS President Eva Paterson.

"We hope that many lawyers, law professors, students and activists will join us in this exciting and critical dialogue as we create the blueprints for the new social justice corporation."

To register, for a complete list of speakers or for more information please visit the EJS and CCLS websites: conf2005.equaljusticesociety.net or www.law.seattleu.edu/ccls.