Electives: Business and Commercial Law
B. Business and Commercial Law and Subspecialties
General Curricular Advice
This practice category is broad. It comprises recognized
specialties such as securities law, bankruptcy, real estate, estate
planning, and shades into something approaching general practice.
Tax Law, including estate planning, is typically thought of as its own
field and is discussed in the Taxation section, infra. A
business–oriented practice can include litigation (see the Litigation
section, supra) or be purely transactional. All versions require
a basic knowledge of the legal forms of business association and
sufficient understanding of taxation and financial statements to
recognize problems and cooperate with a specialist. Key skills
include planning, negotiation, and drafting.
In addition to basic courses common to all such practices, we have six
suggested series of courses for particular kinds of business
practice. We strongly recommend that students planning to get the
greatest possible depth in these fields take BA and Personal Taxation
in the third semester.
The first two series of courses represent two different kinds of
practice. The first is what might be thought of as classic
corporate law. It focuses on the problems of large, primarily
public corporations and those start–ups hoping to go public. It
requires depth in securities and finance. The market for this
kind of practice is hard to break into. Big firms and investment
banks dominate it. A small number of our graduates have gone into
it and done well, primarily in three ways: (1) lateral migration from
IP; (2) latching on to a start–up or small growth company not yet in
the big–firm range and growing with it; or (3) becoming expert through
work in a state securities regulation office and then going into
private practice.
The second series is a potentially very broad practice serving the
needs of small and medium–sized privately held businesses, their
owners, and the owners' families. Here it is important to have a
working knowledge of quite a few different subjects. The clients
cannot afford the time and money for a specialist on their routine
legal problems, nor are they always aware of legal risks involved in
their business plans. Firms in this sort of practice will
generally have lawyers with depth in different fields – employee
issues, lending and finance issues, taxation, estate planning,
contracting, litigation/arbitration, etc. – but it is important that
someone be familiar with each client's affairs overall, even if much of
the work is directed to specialists. Many of our graduates work
in such firms.
Whether independently or as part of a general business and commercial
practice, there are some other specialties for which a cluster of
particular courses is desirable. Real Estate, Commercial
Litigation, and Consumer/Bankruptcy are long and well–established
practice areas. The appropriate courses are listed below.
Information Technology is of obvious and growing importance, although
it is often integrated into IP–based or corporate practice. There
are other subspecialties which individual students, particularly those
with prior experience in an industry, could prepare for (e.g.
construction law, utilities regulation, and municipal law). For
these you would typically take the related business courses and add
depth with a specialized externship and some independent study
work.
Essential Courses for All Business and Commercial Practices
* Business Associations: F, S
* Personal Income Taxation (or equivalent prior
knowledge): F
* Debtor Creditor (F); Introduction to Commercial Law
(S); or Bankruptcy (S)
* Essential Business Concepts/Accounting/Finance (or
equivalent prior knowledge): S
Additional Courses Grouped by Subspecialty
1. Corporate Law
Essential Courses
* Securities Regulation: F
* Mergers and Acquisitions: S
* Antitrust: S
Recommended
* Start–up Company Finance: S
* Business Entities Tax: S
* Bankruptcy: S
* Employment Law: S
* Fundamentals of IP or other Basic IP course:
F, S
* LLC's: (TBA)
Related Courses
* Insurance: S
* White Collar Crime: (TBA)
* e–Commerce and the Law: F, Summer
* Cybercrime: S
* Consumer Law: F
* International Business Transactions: (TBA)
Practical Skills
* Start–up Company Finance: S
* Licensing Courses: F, Summer
* Cross Cultural Negotiation (Summer only)
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Business Planning: F
2. General Practice Emphasizing Local Businesses
Essential (see also essential courses for all Business & Commercial,
supra.)
* Employment Law: S
* LLC's (TBA) or Start–up Company Finance: S
* Wills Trusts and Estates: F, S
Recommended
* Estate Planning: S
* Law Office Management: S
* Insurance: S
* Consumer Law: F
* Fundamentals of IP: F, S
* Business Entities Tax: S
* Remedies: F, S
* Nonprofits (TBA)
Related Courses
* Securities Regulation: F
Practical Skills
* Start–up Company Finance: S
* Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic: F, S,
Summer
* IP and Transaction Clinic: F, S, Summer
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Remedies (small section only): F
* Business Planning: F
3. Real Estate
Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial,
supra.)
* Real Estate Transactions: F
* Bankruptcy: S
* Environmental Law: F
* Land Use Planning/Zoning: S
* LLC's (TBA)
Recommended
* Business Entities Tax: S
* Law Office Management: S
* Insurance: S
Practical Skills
* Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic: F, S,
Summer
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Remedies (small section only): F
4. Consumer, Collections and Bankruptcy
Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial,
supra.)
* Debtor Creditor: F
* Bankruptcy: S
* Consumer Law: F
Recommended
* Law Office Management: S
* Employment: S
Practical Skills
* Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic: F, S,
Summer
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Remedies (small section only): F
5. Information Technology
Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial,
supra.)
* Copyright: F, S, Summer
* e–Commerce and the Law: F, Summer
* Cybercrime: S
* Conflicts of Law (currently not offered)
Related Courses
* Internet Regulation: Summer in Ireland
* Nonprofit Technology Transfer: F
* Current Issues in Information Technology and
Intellectual Property: F
* Cyberlaw: Summer in Ireland
* Antitrust: S
* Comparative e–Commerce Law: Summer in Ireland
* Comparative IP for Information Age: Summer in
Ireland
Practical Skills
* Cross Cultural Negotiation (Summer only)
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Remedies (small section only): F
6. Commercial Litigation
Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial,
supra.)
* Evidence: F, S
* Trial Advocacy: F, S
* Pretrial Practice: F
* Remedies: F, S
Recommended
* Expert Witness and Scientific Evidence: F
* Federal Courts: S
* Dispute Resolution: F
* Conflicts of Law (currently not offered)
Practical Skills
* See recommended courses in Litigation Section,
supra.
Related Upper–Level Writing Courses
* Remedies (small section only): F
