Private Ordering in Corporate Law

The Ira M. Millstein Memorial Conference was held on April 17, 2026, at Columbia Law School and brought together leading voices from academia, the judiciary, law, and finance to consider emerging issues in the governance of private and public companies.

This panel examined the growing role of private ordering in corporate law, focusing on how companies, investors, and market actors increasingly shape governance arrangements through contracts, charter provisions, and private agreements rather than mandatory legal rules.

The session featured presentations by Dorothy S. Lund (Columbia 1982 Alumna Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, Columbia Law School) and Eric Talley (Marc and Eva Stern Professor of Law and Business and Faculty Co-Director of the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, Columbia Law School).

The presentations were followed by a facilitated discussion with Cathy Hwang (Edward F. Howrey Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law), The Honorable J. Travis Laster (Vice Chancellor, Delaware Court of Chancery and Adjunct Professor of Law, Columbia Law School and New York University School of Law), Edward Rock (Martin Lipton Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Institute for Corporate Governance & Finance, New York University School of Law), Sarath Sanga (Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Corporate Law, Yale Law School), and Kate Yoon (Academic Fellow and Lecturer in Law, Columbia Law School).