Business & Entrepreneurship

Britain’s royal family has obtained an injunction against the French magazine Closer to prevent it from publishing topless photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. “The case would likely come out differently if it were brought in the United States,” says Neil Richards, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Richards, an internationally recognized expert in privacy and free speech law who hails from England, explains that English and European courts have been very aggressive in stopping media from publishing pictures delving into the sex lives of celebrities.

Two new interdisciplinary exective education courses bring together experts from across the Danforth Campus to explore emerging concepts that will impact the future of industries, economies and the environment. The two-day and three-day seminars will take place near the end of October.

The “No More ‘Too Big to Fail’” rallying cry is unrealistic, says Cheryl Block, JD, federal taxation, budget and bailout expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “When the next really big economic crisis arises, Congress is unlikely to stick to its ‘no bailout’ pledge,” she says.

The Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will kick off its two business plan competitions at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6. Combined, the Olin Cup and YouthBridge Social Enterprise and Innovation Competition will award more than $200,000 in funding for new commercial and social ventures.

Before settling down to study, groups of Washington University in St. Louis law students worked with a variety of area community groups like the Wellston Community Gardens during the School of Law’s Orientation Service Project Week.

Consumers generally prefer having more options when choosing among products but not when making choices involving the distant future, according to a study from Washington University in St. Louis.

According to the New York Times, Penguin will publish first-person account of the bin Laden raid written by a Navy SEAL. Kathleen Clark, JD, national security law expert and professor at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, discusses the process for publishing this type of book.

Karen Tokarz, JD, dispute resolution expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, says that criticisms about foreclosure mediation programs – currently under review across the country – are not supported by research and appear to be based on misunderstandings of the process.

First amendment expert John Inazu, JD, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, argues in a USA Today opinion column that evangelicals are wise to join the legal fight over the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate.

In recent decades, the federal government has relied more and more on contractors, private businesses, to perform public services. The federal government issues more than $260 billion in government contracts each year, with few restrictions on the employees of those contractors. Government ethics expert Kathleen Clark, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, has written extensively about this issue, provides some suggestions in a Q&A.