Bite-Sized Business Law
Looking for the latest in legal business news?
Get a breakdown of the top stories in business law from industry leaders on the front lines with Bite-Sized Business Law. Host Amy Martella takes a closer look at the latest corporate happenings through interviews with the attorneys, legal experts, public figures, and scholars behind the news to distill business law’s biggest stories into bite-sized portions.
This is your chance to go further into the world of business law and stay up to date with legal cases and industry trends.
Corporations impact us all, leading changes that extend far beyond business to shape the economy, public policy, technology, and beyond. Looking at the big picture, Amy discusses not only the underlying issues in business ethics and legal cases leading the biggest stories but also sparks thought-provoking discussions on where the law should be headed.
Amy is the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Her background ranges from big law to government to tech startups, allowing her to offer an insider’s perspective of the issues that shape corporate actions, large and small. Covering crypto regulation to securities fraud, AI’s impact to Elon Musk’s pay package, Bite-Sized Business Law covers it all with guests of varying viewpoints to provide the nuanced analysis needed to tackle complex problems.
Whether you're looking for the latest in legal insight on intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, business ethics or legal cases in the business law world, you’ll find it here. Enjoying a thoughtful perspective on the news stories of the moment, Bite-Sized Business Law examines big issues and delivers them in small doses.
Bite-Sized Business Law is a project by the Corporate Law Center at Fordham Law. The Center serves as a hub for scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students to engage in the study, discussion, and debate of current issues in corporate law. The Center focuses on aspects of corporate law, corporate compliance, antitrust law, and securities regulation. Through initiatives like the Mergers and Acquisitions seminar and the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, students actively engage in real-world research and cases, bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical application in the legal field.
Bite-Sized Business Law
Firing the Humans: JPMorgan’s Big Bet on AI Proxy Advisors
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What happens when one of the world’s largest asset managers decides to hand its proxy voting recommendations process to a robot? In this episode, Michael Levin, corporate governance expert and host of The Shareholder Primacy Podcast, unpacks JPMorgan Asset Management’s decision to stop using renowned proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis and instead rely on its in-house AI platform, Proxy IQ. Michael explains what proxy advisory firms do, why they are important, and why they face growing criticism from issuers and politicians. He unpacks how trends like ESG backlash, indexing, and “rational apathy” have reshaped institutional voting. Michael also explores what an AI-driven proxy system might do well, where it could fall short, and what this shift could mean for corporate governance and ordinary investors who depend on institutional stewardship. Join the conversation to find out what JPMorgan’s experiment means for the future of proxy advice and what is at stake for investors. Tune in now!
Key Points From This Episode:
- What proxy advisory firms actually do and why they work closely with large asset managers.
- Learn how ISS and Glass Lewis became influential public companies.
- Hear about the common criticisms of proxy advisory firms and their one-size-fits-all policies.
- Assess the costs of proxy advisors for smaller investors and the possible conflicts of interest.
- How ISS and Glass Lewis recommended Tesla shareholders vote on Elon Musk's compensation package.
- Unpack Jamie Dimon’s “incompetent” comment about proxy advisory firms.
- Why JPMorgan Asset Management decided to stop using ISS and Glass Lewis.
- Understand why proxy firms are currently receiving significant criticism and pushback.
- Discover how an AI system could apply internal processes and data for voting decisions.
- Michael’s outlook for proxy advisory firms and whether they will be replaced by AI.
- The risks associated with institutions' disengagement from voting and stewardship processes.
- Find out what the current trends mean for retail investors and why Michael still recommends low-cost diversified funds.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
The Shareholder Primacy Podcast
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
Fordham University School of Law Corporate Law Center