HEC Paris Workshop on Lobbying the Courts

Do interest groups lobby the courts, and how do they do that? On September 14 and September 15, 2023, at the HEC Paris campus, Professors Elie Sung and Alberto Alemanno will convene a workshop gathering researchers from various disciplines to address a question that remains largely understudied.

The question whether and how interest groups lobby the courts remains largely understudied and as a result neglected across the relevant literature. Yet engaging with the judiciary, not only through litigation, but through a variety of influencing practices – be they standard ones such as reaching out to the judges or unconventional ones such as submitting amici curiae briefs –, is part of the lobbying toolbox routinely mobilized by both special and diffused interest groups (e.g. Zinnbauer, 2022; Hofmann & Naurin, 2021; Collins & McCarthy, 2017; Anderson, 2016; Casarin, 2015; Caldeira & Wright, 1988).

The proposed 2-day-workshop intends to fill up this gap. It will take place at the HEC Paris campus on September 14th and September 15th, 2023.

The primary purpose of this event is to gather researchers from a variety of disciplines - notably those working on non-market strategy in business studies, interest groups in political science, and lobbying regulation in law – who are interested in advancing research on judicial lobbying, and come from different geographies. The workshop will include paper presentations and discussions, as well as a roundtable session aimed at conceptually defining what ‘lobbying the courts’ means and who does it (professional legal specialists, academics, other types of consultants, and experts).

Confirmed presenters and discussants include: Dieter Zinnbauer (@Dzinnbauer) (Copenaghen Business School), Emilia Korkea-aho (@EmiliaKorkeaaho) (Helsinki University), Marcel Hanegraaff (@MarcelHanegraaf) (University of Amsterdam), John Walsh (Georgia Tech), Elie Sung (HEC Paris) and Alberto Alemanno (@alemannoEU) (HEC Paris).

Program

Thursday 09/14

13:00 - 13:10: Welcome and introductions

By Elie Sung and Alberto Alemanno

13:10 - 14:30: Session 1: Understanding ‘Lobbying the Courts’: Why it Matters and How it Looks Like

Session chair and discussant: Emilia Korkea-aho (Helsinki University)

"Much more than litigation: lobbying and influencing the judiciary are surprisingly overlooked, yet highly consequential" 
Dieter Zinnbauer (CBS) (@Dzinnbauer)

“Lobbying the Courts: A conceptualisation and Taxonomy” 
Alberto Alemanno (HEC Paris) (@alemannoEU)

14:30 - 14:50: Break

14:50 - 16:10: Session 2: Conceptual Issues around ‘Lobbying the Courts’

Session chair and discussant: Lola Avril (Science Po Paris) (@lolalavril)

Case law of the CJEU and the ECtHR: What can it tell us about third parties’ influence upon these courts? 
Kaja Kazmierska (Humboldt University, Berlin)

Lobbying and litigation for policy change – towards a ‘multi-venue’ approach to interest representation in the EU 
Sofie Fleerackers (University of Amsterdam, University of Geneva, KU Leuven) (@SofieFleer)

16:10 - 16:30: Break

16:30 - 17:50: Keynote by Adam Bonica (Stanford University) (@adam_bonica)

Discussants: Mariolina Eliantonio (Maastricht University) (@M_Eliantonio) and John Walsh (Georgia Tech)

17:50 - 18:50: Apéritif & Poster session

Invited presenters:
Charlie An (Washington University St Louis)
Pola Cebulak (VU Amsterdam) (@polatoja)

Sahar Abi-Hassan (Northeastern University) (@SaharAbiHassan)
Johan Rath (Bocconi University) (@RathJohan)

18:50 - 19:30: Free time

19:30 - 21:00: Dinner at the Château (invited speakers and discussants)

Friday 09/15

8:00 – 8:30: Coffee

8:30 – 9:50: Session 3: Interactions between Businesses and Judges

Session chair and discussant: Thomas Susman (American Bar Association) (@tmsus)

Corporate lawsuits and lobbying: A US Perspective
Daniel Zyung (Southern Methodist University)

We’ll see you in court! On strategic litigation by interest groups in the Netherlands  
Rowie Stolk (Leiden Law School)

9:50 - 10:10: Break

10:10 – 11:30: Session 4: Court Rulings and Strategic Management

Session chair and discussant: Adam Bonica (Stanford University) (@adam_bonica)

Corporate Political Activity in the U.S. Supreme Court
Elie Sung (HEC Paris). Find the summary on Knowledge@HEC here.

Do Supreme Court decisions influence firm value?
Yasir Dewan (HEC Paris)

11:30 - 12:30: Roundtable session

Topic 1: Scope and definition
Topic 2: Future research

12:30 - 12:45: Concluding Remarks and What’s Next 

By Alberto Alemanno and Elie Sung

Find the program here too.

sponsor and organization

Free event. This workshop is co-sponsored by HEC Paris and the HEC's S&O Institute. Conference organizers will cover up, upon previous approval, reasonable travel expenses plus accommodation for all presenters. All non-presenting co-authors are welcome to attend the workshop at their own expense.

Questions about this conference may be addressed to the organizers: Alberto Alemanno (alemanno@hec.fr) and Elie Sung (sung@hec.fr) whereas logistical/administrative aspects to Camilla Pater (pater@hec.fr).

Selected bibliography:

• Alemanno, A. (2017), Lobbying for Change, London: Iconbooks.
• Anderson, J. J. (2016). Judicial Lobbying. Wash. L. Rev., 91, 401.
• Casarin, A. A. (2015). Non-market strategies in legal arenas. The Routledge Companion to Non-market Strategy. Routledge, New York, 141-161.
• Collins, P., & McCarthy, L. (2017). Friends and Interveners: Interest Group Litigation in a Comparative Context. Journal of Law and Courts, 5(1), 55-80. Paper here.
• Korkea-aho, E. (2021). Legal Lobbying: The Evolving (But Hidden) Role of Lawyers and Law Firms in the EU Public Affairs Market. German Law Journal, 22(1), 65-84.
• Hofmann, A, Naurin, D. Explaining interest group litigation in Europe: Evidence from the comparative interest group survey. Governance. 2021; 34: 1235– 1253. Paper here.
• Sung, E. J. (2019). The co-construction of court-made patent policy and firm strategy (Doctoral dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology).
• Zinnbauer, D. (2022), Corporate judicial activity, Available at SSRN here.