|
Constitutional Documents
In relation to juristic persons, the constitutional documents (sometimes referred to as the charter documents) are the documents which define the existence of an entity and regulate the structure and control of that entity and its members. The precise form of the constitutional documents depends upon the type of entity, such as corporations or private associations. Companies By convention, most common law jurisdictions divide the constitutional documents of companies into two separate documents: *the Memorandum of Association (in some countries referred to as the Articles of Incorporation) is the primary document, and will generally regulate the company's activities with the outside world, such as the company's objects and powers. *the Articles of Association (in some countries referred to as the by-laws) is the secondary document, and will generally regulate the company's internal affairs and management, such as procedures for board meetings, dividend entitlements etc. In m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nation-states
A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) congruent. "Nation state" is a more precise concept than "country" or "state", since a country or a state does not need to have a predominant national or ethnic group. A nation, sometimes used in the sense of a common ethnicity, may include a diaspora or refugees who live outside the nation-state; some dispersed nations (such as the Roma nation, for example) do not have a state where that ethnicity predominates. In a more general sense, a nation-state is simply a large, politically sovereign country or administrative territory. A nation-state may be contrasted with: * An empire, a political unit made up of several territories and peoples, typically established through conquest and marked by a dominant center and subordinate peripheries. * A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voting Trust
A voting trust is an arrangement whereby the shares in a company of one or more shareholders and the voting rights attached thereto are legally transferred to a trustee, usually for a specified period of time (the "trust period"). In some voting trusts, the trustee may also be granted additional powers (such as to sell or redeem the shares). At the end of the trust period, the shares would ordinarily be re-transferred to the beneficiary, although in practice many voting trusts contain provisions for them to re-vested on the voting trusts with identical terms. Voting trusts were made popular in Delaware corporate law, but they have since been adopted widely by other states in the United States. They have also been extensively adopted in offshore jurisdictions. Purposes There are several reasons why shareholders may wish to put a voting trust arrangement in place. * Several shareholders may wish to create a unified block of votes, which together gives them more power than the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trade Union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages and Employee benefits, benefits, improving Work (human activity), working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause conditions for termination) and protecting and increasing the bargaining power of workers. Trade unions typically fund their head office and legal team functions through regularly imposed fees called ''union dues''. The union representatives in the workforce are usually made up of workplace volunteers who are often appointed by members through internal democratic elections. The trade union, through an elected leadership and bargaining committee, bargains with the employer on behalf of its members, known as t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unincorporated Association
Unincorporated association refers to a group of people in common law jurisdictions—such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand—who organize around a shared purpose without forming a corporation or similar legal entity. Unlike in some civil law systems, where associations gain legal personality upon registration, these groups lack such status and arise from contract rather than formal incorporation. They are distinct from partnerships because their members do not unite for profit. Easy to form with minimal formalities, unincorporated associations offer flexibility but no separate legal identity. These associations require a contractual relationship—without it, a casual group like friends meeting regularly doesn’t qualify, no matter how often they gather. Under common law contract rules, they can even form unintentionally, as members may not realize their agreement creates an association. Often viewed as informal institutions, they aim for permanence and recognit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trust Instrument
In trust law, a trust instrument (also sometimes called a deed of trust, where executed by way of deed) is an instrument in writing executed by a settlor used to constitute a trust. Trust instruments are generally only used in relation to an ''inter vivos'' trust; testamentary trusts are usually created under a will. Formalities Although in most legal systems there are certain formalities associated with settling a trust, most legal systems impose few, if any, structures on the trust instrument itself. Historically, the concept of a trust is the intervention of the courts of equity to prevent a legal owner treating the property as beneficially his own; provided that state of affairs exists, a trust arises notwithstanding any lack of formality in relation to the form of the trust instrument. However, notwithstanding the flexible approach taken by the law, characteristically the legal profession has taken an extremely formalised approach to trust instruments. Not only are the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trust Law
A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is known as the "settlor", the party to whom it is entrusted is known as the "trustee", the party for whose benefit the property is entrusted is known as the "beneficiary", and the entrusted property is known as the "corpus" or "trust property". A ''testamentary trust'' is an irrevocable trust established and funded pursuant to the terms of a deceased person's will. An inter vivos trust is a trust created during the settlor's life. The trustee is the legal owner of the assets held in trust on behalf of the trust and its beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are equitable owners of the trust property. Trustees have a fiduciary duty to manage the trust for the benefit of the equitable owners. Trustees must provide regular accountings of trust income ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slaughter And May
Slaughter and May is a British law firm headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1889, it has offices in Beijing, Brussels and Hong Kong in addition to London. History Slaughter and May was founded on 1 January 1889 by William Capel Slaughter and William May both previously of Ashurst Morris Crisp (later Ashurst LLP, Ashurst). The firm's first office was located at 18 Austin Friars in the City of London. In 1974, the firm opened an office in Hong Kong, being the first London law firm to establish a presence there. During the 1980s and 1990s, the firm acted on a number of privatisations in the United Kingdom, including those of British Airways, British Gas plc, British Gas and British Steel Corporation. In 2002, Slaughter and May moved to its current London office at One Bunhill Row. Slaughter and May closed its New York office in September 2004 and its Singapore office in October 2004, instead referring its U.S. work to Wall Street firms and its Southeast Asia work to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magic Circle (law)
"Magic Circle" is an informal term describing the five most prestigious London-headquartered multinational law firms, which generally outperform the rest of the London law firms on profitability. The term has also been used to describe the most prestigious barristers' chambers in London. All of the 'Magic Circle' law firms and barristers' chambers specialise primarily in corporate law. History and evolution The term was coined by legal reporters in the 1990s and is generally considered to include the following five law firms: A&O Shearman, Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May. The Magic Circle has been termed a "journalistic device, coined by legal reporters in the wake of the break-up of its predecessor, the 'Club of Nine'". The Club of Nine was an informal group of law firms that comprised Allen & Overy (now A&O Shearman), Clifford Chance, Freshfields, Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills), Linklaters, Lovells (now Hogan Lovells), Norton Rose ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limited Liability Partnership
A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This distinguishes an LLP from a traditional partnership under the UK Partnership Act 1890, in which each partner has joint (but not several) liability. In an LLP, some or all partners have a form of limited liability similar to that of the shareholders of a corporation. Depending on the jurisdiction, however, the limited liability may extend only to the negligence or misconduct of the other partners, and the partners may be personally liable for other liabilities of the firm or partners. Unlike corporate shareholders, the partners have the power to manage the business directly. In contrast, corporate shareholders must elect a board of directors under the laws of v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partnership Agreement
Articles of partnership is a voluntary contract between/among two or more persons to place their capital, labor, and skills into a business, with the understanding that there will be a sharing of the profits and losses between/among partners. Outside of North America, it is normally referred to simply as a partnership agreement. A partnership agreement is a written and legal agreement between/among business partners. It is always recommended but not essential for partners to have such an agreement. Articles of partnership Multiple sections are often included in articles of partnership, based on the circumstances: * the granting of the partner the rights to manage and administer the business or a specific department. * the authorization of a majority of partners to manage the affairs of the entire partnership. This is particularly common where there are numerous partners. * provisions to account for, annually, the property and debts of the business. * the forbidding of any partner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
