Drawing from German Pandectists, who at the end of the 1800s sought systematically to discern a set of legal principles applicable to all legal rules, a young Yale law professor, Wesley Hohfeld, proposed a system of symbolic logic to explain all legal relationships.

Although "Hohfeldian Logic" has been moth-balled in much of the U.S. legal academy, its relevance lives:

Here are some examples of imbedded legal conceptions in the assertion "As a shareholder, I have voting rights":

RIGHT: "The board must hold elections each year." I have a RIGHT to demand elections be held in a timely way. The board has a correlative DUTY to hold them. Without this right, I would have NO-RIGHT.

PRIVILEGE: "Shareholders may vote as they please." I have the PRIVILEGE to vote as I choose. The board has NO-RIGHT to demand that I vote a certain way. Without this privilege, I would have a DUTY to vote only for old, gray, bald men.

POWER: "Shareholders can vote to amend the bylaws." I have the POWER (shared with other shareholders) to amend the bylaws, such as to change the timing of annual meetings. The board has a LIABILITY to abide by shareholder-initiated bylaw changes, if so specified. Without this power, I would be DISABLED from changing the bylaws, that is I would be "disempowered".

IMMUNITY: "The board cannot manipulate the voting process during an insurgency." I have an IMMUNITY from the board fooling with the voting process. The board is DISABLED from fooling around with my voting rights. Without this immunity, I would be LIABLE to (forced to accept) the board's actions.

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Note:  See Wikipedia.

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