Home : Legal Dictionary : Blue sky law

Legal Dictionary - Blue sky law

"Blue Sky Laws" refer to the securities rules and regulations enacted by the various States in the United States. Each State has its own set of rules and regulations, which are in addition to the federal securities laws.

The origin of the term is a bit unclear, but the first use of the term that we are aware of is in an opinion of Justice McKenna of the United States Supreme Court, in 1917. Justice McKenna wrote the Court's opinion in Hall v. Geiger-Jones Co., 242 U.S. 539 (1917), which was three cases, all dealing with the constitutionality of state securities regulations. Justice McKenna wrote:

"The name that is given to the law indicates the evil at which it is aimed, that is, to use the language of a cited case, "speculative schemes which have no more basis than so many feet of 'blue sky'"; or, as stated by counsel in another case, "to stop the sale of stock in fly-by-night concerns, visionary oil wells, distant gold mines and other like fraudulent exploitations." Even if the descriptions be regarded as rhetorical, the existence of evil is indicated, and a belief of its detriment; and we shall not pause to do more than state that the prevention of deception is within the competency of government and that the appreciation of the consequences of it is not open for our review."

Unfortunately, Justice McKenna never gave a reference to the "cited case" that he referred to, and the Hall cases have become known as The Blue Sky Cases, and Justice McKenna as the author of the phrase.

While these laws vary from state to state, the laws require registration of securities offerings, and registration of brokers and brokerage firms. Each state has a regulatory agency which administers the law, typically known as the state Securities Commissioner.

--This Wex entry prepared by Mark J. Astarita, Esq. of Beam & Astarita, LLC (http://www.beamlaw.com)

Retrieved from "http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Blue_sky_law". Content is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

Need A Workers' Compensation Attorney?

First Name Last Name Email Address State

Legal Issue

Employment Law: Workers' Compensation Click to select a Legal Issue

Were your rights violated?

Please Describe the Injury

close this window

Workers' Compensation Information

Click to View Our Legal Resources

Do you need a Workers' Compensation attorney in Washington, DC? Contact one of our Workers' Compensation attorneys in Washington, DC now.

LegalView.info is sponsored by law firms with offices in many states. This website contains information created by others or supplied through open forums; the sponsoring law firms are not responsible for the accuracy of this information. Your access to this site does not constitute a legal attorney-client relationship. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. To access important information concerning the sponsors and their commitment to the ethical practice of law, click here.

The participating law firms are as follows: Anapol Schwartz (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Media, Pennsylvania; Reading, Pennsylvania; Wheeling, WV). Cohen, Placitella & Roth (Red Bank, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). J. F. Humphreys (Charleston, West Virginia). Lopez McHugh (Newport Beach, California; Philadelphia, PA; and Moorestown, NJ). Click here for more information about these law firms.

Some of our partner firms do not accept some types of cases. For details on these case exceptions, click here.

20120517-024916

Close (x)

Looking for an Attorney?

Please type your question:

First Name:
Last Name:
E-mail:
Phone Number *
() -

State * Legal Issue *

Employment Law: Workers' Compensation Click to select a Legal Issue

Close (x)

Find Legal Help for Your Workers' Compensation Case - Submit Your Information Below

Do you need legal assistance with your Workers' Compensation case?
LegalView may be able to help.

Submit your information below for a free, no-cost evaluation.

We'll submit your information to one of our partner firms.
LegalView's partners represent clients throughout the United States, for a very wide range of legal issues. Submit your information now, to see if one of LegalView's partners can help!

* Indicates Required Fields

First name *

Last name *

Email Address *

Phone Number *
() -

State *

Legal Issue * Employment Law: Workers' Compensation Change

Was There an Injury?

Please Describe The Injury

Please State Your Question *

DISCLAIMER and STATEMENT OF NON-CONFIDENTIALITY

By submitting this form, you agree that completing the above is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship.

Disclosure

Legal WebTV Network LLC, LegalView.com, and LegalWebMedia.com are group advertising sponsored by the attorneys identified here. It is not a lawyer referral service. If you submit information on this website, LegalWebMedia.com will submit your information to the law firms that pay for this group advertising and to respond to your requests for information concerning legal services in their assigned local areas. If there is no sponsoring firm in your state, your inquiry will be submitted to one of the sponsoring law firms on a predetermined, rotating basis. If the sponsoring law firm accepts your case, it will associate with licensed attorneys practicing in your state, if required; the sponsoring law firm may also contact other law firms to see if they may be able to assist.

The information provided by the LegalView.com and LegalWebMedia.com websites is for advertising and informational purposes and should not be considered as legal advice from the sponsoring attorneys. The websites contain general information and may not reflect current legal developments, verdicts, or settlements. LegalView.com contains information created by others or supplied through open forums; the sponsoring law firms are not responsible for the accuracy of this information. Any person viewing or receiving information from these websites should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of any such information without first seeking appropriate legal advice from an attorney in your area. Legal WebTV Network, LLC expressly disclaims any liability with respect to actions taken or not taken by the recipient based on any or all of the information or contents contained in these websites.

Any information sent to Legal WebTV Network LLC through this website is done using standard Web encryption techology. LegalView.com will exercise all reasonable care, within technological limits, to protect the confidentiality of any information submitted via Internet e-mail or through this website. By accessing this website, you may be seeking an attorney to represent you or legal advice. However, none of the sponsoring attorneys represent you yet.

The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.

Any transmission of information, whether via Internet e-mail or through the website, is solely for evaluation purposes by the sponsoring law firms and their associates. The transmission of any information to any attorney sponsoring advertising on LegalView.com or LegalWebMedia.com does not create an attorney-client relationship between the sender and any recipient. An attorney-client relationship can only be created by a written, signed-fee agreement entered into with an attorney. The sponsoring attorneys will treat your information as a confidential communication for the purpose of obtaining legal services or legal advice.

For more information about the sponsoring law firms, please click here.

This form is secure and encrypted. More information about secure forms and your privacy here.