Hitting the Sweet Spot by Accident:  How Recent Lower Court Cases Help Realign Incentives in the Credit Rating Industry

by:  John Crawford

Broad reliance on excessively optimistic credit ratings of structured financial products helped ignite and spread the recent financial crisis. A misalignment of incentives at rating agencies such as Fitch Inc., Moody’s Corporation, and Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) contributed significantly to this excessive optimism. One proposal for better aligning incentives is to facilitate more lawsuits against the rating agencies for shoddy work. Courts have traditionally dismissed such lawsuits, deeming ratings to be fully protected speech under the First Amendment. However, two recent district court cases, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank v. Morgan Stanley &Co., and In re National Century Financial Enterprises, Inc., Investment Litigation, adopt a different view.

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Apology Lite:  Truths, Doubts, and Reconciliations in the Senate's Guarded Apology for Slavery

by:  Kaimipono David Wenger

The United States Senate recently offered an apology for slavery, which contained an unusual disclaimer prohibiting its use in any claim for monetary reparations.  This Essay examines the legal and moral effects of that apology.  It analyzes the role of apology within the slavery reparations debate generally as well as the question of whether a stand-alone apology can be a valid form of reparations.  It then examines the moral and symbolic effects of the Senate disclaimer, and offers suggestions for bolstering the apology and furthering the restorative justice goals of reparations.

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