Thilo Kuntz – författare

Methodology in Private Law Theory: Between New Private Law and Rechtsdogmatik represents a first-of-its-kind dialogue between leading lights in German and American private law theory. The chapters in this volume build upon established traditions of scholarship in German private law and harness resurgent scholarly interest in private law in the United States, inviting readers to question how private law functions on both sides of the Atlantic. In the context of the cross-fertilization of legal scholarship, the transnationalization of law, and the historical ties between US and German debates on methodology, the volume encourages reasoned engagement with private law doctrines and institutions. It further invites reflexive consideration of diverse ways in which methods of legal analysis influence social practices where law is given, received, asserted, and negotiated. Leading methodologies of the past and present are subject to fresh elucidation and insightful criticism, including those of legal formalism, legal conceptualism, legal realism, law and economics, legal philosophy, legal history, empirical jurisprudence, Rechtsdogmatik, and other varieties of doctrinal scholarship. Providing the necessary background for understanding different legal cultures and traditions in private law, Methodology in Private Law Theory is a must-read for anyone working within the field.

In recent years, the longstanding debate between shareholder-oriented and stakeholder-oriented models of corporate governance for large listed, or "public" corporations, has experienced a resurgence. Simultaneously, a wave of new regulations has reshaped the legal landscape, compelling businesses to integrate public objectives - such as environmental protection or the social interests of specific stakeholder groups - into their decision-making processes, which were traditionally driven solely by profitability considerations. Against this background, the book brings together economic, comparative, historical, and doctrinal perspectives of scholars from US and European legal academia.The ongoing discourse regarding the fundamental role of public corporations in economies and society is vivid and rather different, across Europe, and the US. Filling a gap in comparative literature on these themes, this volume further explores commonalities across these varying legal landscapes, while remaining cognizant of distinct, cultural, legal, and economic contexts. Most strikingly, the contributions here point to the European emphasis on stakeholder-oriented regulation, in contrast to the US-American focus on shareholder value. Providing a comprehensive analysis of recent legal developments in this space, this volume serves as an essential theoretical guide to debates around corporate purpose, CSR, and ESG today.

Fiduciary law is important transnationally, particularly in the context of global capitalism. Fiduciary law's characteristic regard for others offers a response to the pursuit of unconstrained self-interest in business and government relations, potentially implicating the exercise of both private and public power. Stakeholders have invoked it not only to address traditional private law matters, but also to enjoin transnational corporations to respect human rights, to combat public corruption, and to constrain national governments to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples. This book focuses on the processes through which conceptualizations of fiduciary relationships and fiduciary norms may (or may not) settle transnationally - or become unsettled - as actors invoke fiduciary norms to address problems in different domains, including across borders. It identifies complications and challenges of any transnational convergence of fiduciary norms that fiduciary theorists often elide. This book is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The Research Handbook on Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance presents a comprehensive view of a rapidly evolving area of study. Adopting a comparative approach, it goes beyond issues of sustainability and human rights, covering the whole spectrum of ESG and its regulatory developments.Astutely organized into clearly defined and thematic sections, chapters tackle classic questions relating to corporate governance, assess the current state of ESG and address important issues arising from its development. A carefully selected, distinguished and diverse cast of authors explore topics including directors’ duties and managerial decision-making, the changing landscape of investor and shareholder activism, investment and fund regulation, and ESG initiatives in international law.This interdisciplinary Research Handbook is essential reading for academics and students of law, environmental studies, and politics and public policy. Legal practitioners of corporate law, capital markets law and securities regulation will also benefit from this authoritative analysis of ESG regulatory developments.

Thilo Kuntz untersucht, welche Schranken für die freie Gestaltung von Kapitalgesellschaften durch die Satzung und schuldrechtliche Nebenabreden gelten. Anlass ist die im internationalen Vergleich starke Einschränkung der Privatautonomie insbesondere im Aktienrecht ("Satzungsstrenge"), deren Rechtfertigung trotz ihrer Bedeutung für das System des Privatrechts und die Rechtspraxis bislang nicht umfassend untersucht wurde. Der Verfasser diskutiert die Gründe für die Errichtung von Gestaltungsschranken und vergleicht das deutsche Recht unter Einbeziehung ökonomischer Aspekte mit dem US-Recht. Als Anschauungsmaterial für den Rechtsvergleich und Testfall für die Gestaltungsfreiheit im deutschen Recht nutzt er Abreden über Wagniskapitalfinanzierungen ("Venture Capital"). Er entwickelt ein Erklärungsmodell, warum es keines umfassenden gesetzlichen Zwanges bedarf, um die durch die Satzungsstrenge angestrebte Standardisierung zu erreichen.Der Autor wurde für dieses Werk mit dem Dr. Herbert-Stolzenberg-Preis der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (2014) und dem Hochschulpreis des Deutschen Aktieninstituts (2015) ausgezeichnet.