Discussion (1L): Is the Market Fair? Technology, Access, and the Law of Modern Finance

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"Rigged." "Unfair." "Fixed." We might reach for these words when we think about financial markets, but what would it actually mean for a market to be fair? In this discussion seminar we will press that question in three arenas where law, technology, and finance collide. First, who gets to invest: the rule that you must be wealthy to buy into startups, and the new world of crypto, tokenized shares, and prediction markets that promises to get around it. Second, whether the prices in our stock exchanges are truly fair and transparent in an age of payment-for-order-flow, "free" trading with a purported single "best price" that may be neither best nor even knowable. Third, who gets to raise capital, from founders shut out by the affinity networks of venture capital to borrowers protected -- or not -- by fair-lending law. Throughout, we will confront a choice every lawyer eventually faces: do we pursue fairness by guaranteeing fair process and open access, or by dictating fair outcomes? No background in finance or economics is assumed or expected. Elements used in grading: Full attendance, reading of assigned materials, and active participation. Class meets: 5:00 PM-7:00 PM on Sept. 29, Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov 17.