Legal Commentary

Greetings and many thanks to Dan and his colleagues for inviting me to guest blog here at PrawfsBlawg. I teach Business Associations, Nonprofit Organizations, and a leadership development course (?Lawyers as Leaders?) at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. I?m looking forward to some fun posts and exchanges over the next couple of weeks.

When I teach Business Associations, I tend to incorporate pop culture references into my examples. (As my students know, I watch a fair amount of television.) Accordingly, I?m always interested in good news items allowing me to bring in relevant pop culture/business stories. Well, this one is a doozy.

The New York Times recently reported that the SEC has filed a complaint against Gary Milby who is alleged to have diverted at least $12 million in investors' funds (from 30 oil and gas limited partnerships) into offshore accounts and family trusts. What does that have to do with pop culture? Evidently, Milby and his daughter were featured on an episode of MTV?s vacuous ?My Super Sweet 16.? If you haven?t seen the hit show on cable, it?s among the worst-of-the-worst ?reality? shows that?s often painfully funny and the ultimate guilty pleasure (although once you?ve seen 3-4 episodes, you?ve seen them all). The show features a series of 15 year old girls (and an occasional boy) as they dream up, organize, and finally partake in their obscenely extravagant Sweet Sixteen parties. The kids in each episode are unfailingly portrayed as spoiled, temperamental, ungrateful, bratty, and arrogant. The parents are usually portrayed as superficial, easily manipulated, clueless, indulgent, reckless spendthrifts.

According to MTV?s website, Milby?s daughter?s affair ?took the fairy-tale theme to glorious new heights.? Usually, only the guest of honor makes a horrendously tacky grand entrance. This time, horse-drawn carriages delivered all the party's guests to a castle-like tent; the b-day girl arrived in a helicopter. The soiree concluded with a fireworks display. Of course, no birthday party is complete without a gift: in this case, a new BMW. Mr. Milby was described as ?a successful oilman.? During the episode, the daughter proclaims: "I love oil. Oil means shoes and cars and purses."

Well, it looks like government regulators and investors caught the episode and were not pleased. In fact, they became suspicious. If the government can show jurors a 30-minute video of Dennis Kozlowski?s wife?s birthday bash on Sardina, then perhaps law faculty can show a video clip of ?My Super Sweet 16? in a Corporations class?