Fairness Opinions: How Fair Are They and Why We Should Do Nothing About It

Authors

William J. Carney, Emory University Law School

Publication Title

Washington University Law Quarterly

Abstract

I believe that fairness opinions exist for two reasons: a judicial belief in the determinacy of value, and legal rules that shelter the business judgment of a board when based on reliance on the opinion of experts. Except in rare instances, investment bankers do not deliver fairness opinions for the benefit of public shareholders. Further, the nature of the fairness opinion is such that neither courts nor investors should attach too much weight to it nor impose liability because of it, except in instances of fraud.

Recommended Citation

William J. Carney, Fairness Opinions: How Fair Are They and Why We Should Do Nothing About It, 70 Wash. U. L. Q. 523 (1992).
Available at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol70/iss2/13