ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book owes much to the wonderfully congenial environment for research and writing at Stanford Law School, under the leadership of Dean Paul Brest at the time of the first edition and of Dean M. Elizabeth Magill at the time of the second.

As so often in the past, I have relied heavily on the superb services of the staff of the Robert Crown Law Library, and wish especially to thank Marion Miller, Sonia Moss, Richie Porter, Sarah Reis, Sergio Stone, George Wilson, and Alex Zhang. Tom Rubin has my thanks for helpful comments on the new concluding chapter, as does Lynne Anderson (with a timely assist from Kimberly Dorst) for retyping what must have seemed like unending drafts of manuscript tirelessly and with a warming good cheer that far transcended any job description or call of duty. I could not have hoped for a more meticulous or graceful copy editor than Michele D. Jones.

A generous grant from the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation supported early work on the book. I am also grateful to the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at Stanford; the George R. Roberts Program in Law, Business, and Corporate Governance; and the Claire and Michael Brown Estate for supplemental grants in support of research assistance and travel.