''Louis K. Liggett Co. v. Lee'', 288 U.S. 517 (1933), is a corporate law decision from the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

.. In his opinion, Justice Brandeis endorsed the theories that state corporate law, and lack of federal standards, enabled a race to the bottom in corporate law rules, or one of "laxity". He also expounded the evidence that the Great Depression was caused by disparities of income and wealth brought about by the corporation, which he likened to Frankenstein's monster.

Facts

The case involved retail business taxes in the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

being based on the number of stores and not the value or sales of the stores.

Judgment

The majority of the Supreme Court, with the opinion delivered by Roberts J, held that § 5 of the Florida Act, which increased tax if stores were present in more than one county, was unreasonable and arbitrary and violated the equal protection clause. Justice Brandeis dissented. He agreed with the

race to the bottom Race to the bottom is a socio-economic phrase to describe either government deregulation of the business environment or reduction in corporate tax rates, in order to attract or retain usually foreign economic activity in their jurisdictions. Whil ...

theory of corporate law, proposed by Adolf Berle and

Gardiner Means Gardiner Coit Means (June 8, 1896 in Windham, Connecticut – February 15, 1988 in Vienna, Virginia) was an American economist who worked at Harvard University, where he met lawyer-diplomat Adolf A. Berle. Together they wrote the seminal work of ...

in ''

The Modern Corporation and Private Property ''The Modern Corporation and Private Property'' is a book written by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means published in 1932 regarding the foundations of United States corporate law. It explores the evolution of big business through a legal and economi ...

'' (1932).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis K. Liggett Co. V. Lee United States corporate case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court United States taxation and revenue case law Legal history of Florida 1933 in United States case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

References

External links