October 9 @ 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Ross Parsons Corporations Law Lecture 2024:The significant origins of the modern corporation
In-person event
It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that the modern corporation is a separate legal entity from its shareholders. But what does it mean when we describe a corporation as an entity and how separate is the company really from its shareholders?
By casting an historical lens over its earliest origins, this lecture will unpack the pieces that make up what has been described as “amongst mankind’s greatest inventions”. The lecture discusses why those hybrid origins are significant, why they have led to the tension between shareholder’ interests and broader interests inherent in corporate law, and how
the potential and perils of the corporation can be best realised once we understand what exactly it is.
Registration
Complimentary, however registration is essential.
About the speaker
Professor Susan Watson is the Dean of the University of Auckland Business School. She holds joint chairs in the Faculty of Business and Economics and the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland.
Susan researches corporate law and corporate governance with a particular interest in the corporate form. In her research she considers corporations and their features from multiple perspectives seeking to understand the reasons for their economic, societal and environmental impact. Her monograph The Making of the Modern Company (Routledge, 2022) traces its origins back to 1657 and in doing so identifies what might be the key features that make the modern company the omnipresent business form across the globe.
In 2016 Susan won the Legal Research Foundation Sir Ian Barker Published Article Award. She was elected president of the Society of Corporate Law Academics (SCoLa) in 2020; the first person from outside Australia. She is the only person appointed a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) to date.
Commentator: Justice Ashley Black, Supreme Court of New South Wales
Chair: Professor Jason Harris, Professor of Corporate Law, Sydney Law School
Wednesday 9 October 2024
Time: 6-7.30pm
Venue: Sydney Law School, Law Foyer, Level 2, New Law Building (F10), University of Sydney, Camperdown campus
CPD Points = 1.5
This event is proudly presented by the Ross Parsons Centre for Commercial, Corporate and Taxation Law at the University of Sydney Law School.