The Big End of Town Meets the Local Council: The Investment Habitus of Four Sets of Australian Councils during the GFC

The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 led to a substantial write‐down in the value of investments such as collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) with one class of investors being NSW Local councils.  This article analyses interviews with four different investor types (or sets) of local councils, each of which took a substantially different approach to CDO investment. This categorisation into sets was based on interviews of 28 individuals working within 14 local councils as well as commentaries on legal cases involving a class action of local councils suing Lehman Brothers Australia as well as Grange Securities over losses in their investments. This article adopts Bourdieu's Theory of Practice to describe and explain behaviour regarding decisions to invest (or not) in CDOs. Interesting themes arise regarding differing views on the appropriate role of local councils, and on the degree and form of ‘capital’ (which includes knowledge, competencies, skills, and economic resources) that a council should have before investing in sophisticated financial products. This article explores the role that field, habitus, and capital played in moderating and influencing council investment making decisions. The analysis shows that these Bourdieuian concepts can be utilised to help explain individual behaviour. This case study shows that excessive capital left in the hands of individuals may result in suboptimal decision making. Local councils may need to consider ways of implementing policies and procedures that can be used to moderate individual action.     

Managing materiality: a preliminary examination of the adoption of the new GRI G4 guidelines on materiality within the business community

The concept of materiality emerged as the most important element in the new G4 guideline on corporate sustainability reporting launched by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in 2013. This commentary paper offers a preliminary examination of the way in which these new guidelines are being adopted within the business community. The paper begins with a short discussion of the GRI guidelines and the enhanced emphasis on materiality, and the paper draws its empirical material from the first 10 companies listed on Google as having published their sustainability reports in accordance with the G4 guidelines. The findings reveal marked variations in the ways, and the extent to which, the selected companies have initially adopted the GR4 guidelines on materiality and that many of the high‐priority material issues identified by these companies are centred on business continuity rather than environmental sustainability issues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planning for incapacity by people with bipolar disorder under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides a variety of legal mechanisms for people to plan for periods of incapacity for decisions relating to personal care, medical treatment, and financial matters. Little research has however been done to determine the degree to which these are actually implemented, and the approach to such advance planning by service users and professionals. This paper looks at the use of advance planning by people with bipolar disorder, using qualitative and quantitative surveys both of people with bipolar disorder and psychiatrists. The study finds that the mechanisms are under-used in this group, despite official policy in support of them, largely because of a lack of knowledge about them among service users, and there is considerable confusion among service users and professionals alike as to how the mechanisms operate. Recording is at best inconsistent, raising questions as to whether the mechanisms will be followed.     

Increasing Allele Detection by Altering the Quantity of Internal Lane Standard

Electrokinetic injection (EI) is the primary method used in forensic laboratories to load amplified PCR product in capillary electrophoresis for short tandem repeat (STR) fragment separation. Because all samples subjected to capillary electrophoresis use internal lane standard (ILS), this study investigated the consequence of varying the volume of ILS and its effects on allele peak heights and number of alleles detected. Results demonstrated that when the volume of ILS is reduced, the average peak height and number of alleles increased, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the detection method. Sizing anomalies were observed; however, they did not adversely affect accuracy and precision. The method developed in this study offers a simple and universal procedure to increase the alleles detected in forensic STR analysis. Reducing the volume of ILS to achieve greater sensitivity is applicable to all STR amplification kits and capillary electrophoresis instruments currently used in forensic DNA analysis.     

Undermining Gender Equality: Female Attrition from Private Law Practice

The number of women in the legal profession has grown tremendously over the last 40 years, with women now representing about half of all law school graduates. Despite the decades‐long pipeline of women into the profession, women's representation among law firm partnerships remains dismally low. One key reason identified for women's minority presence among law firm partners is the high level of attrition of women associates from law firms. This high rate of female attrition undermines efforts to achieve gender equality in the legal profession. Using a survey of 1,270 law graduates, we employ piecewise constant exponential hazard regression models to explore gendered career paths from private law practice. Our analysis reveals that, for both men and women, the time leading up to partnership decisions sees many lawyers exit private practice, but women continue to leave private practice long after partnership decisions are made. Gender differences in leaving private practice also surface with reference to cohorts, areas of law, billable hours, firm sizes, and career gaps. Notably, working in criminal law augmented women's risk of leaving private practice, but not for men, while taking time away from practice for reasons other than parental leaves, hastens both men's and women's exits from private practice.     

The Islands that Ate the Constitution

Liverpool Law Review - This article reviews and updates the counterintuitive status of non-state territories under the United States constitution. Taking into account the historical interpretation...     

Early Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Skills Among Youth in Fragile Families

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with negative health and behavioral outcomes across the life course, yet little is known about the association...