The
first-year small-section program teaches the fundamentals of legal analysis and reasoning in a supportive setting. In the first semester, two of each student's classes -- a substantive law class and a legal writing class -- have 25 or fewer students. This gives students the opportunity to receive one-to-one feedback, and, because students from these small sections take all their other classes together, study groups and friendships develop naturally among classmates.
In the
second and third years of law school, students have time both to explore the curriculum and to develop the lawyering skills they need. Students choose courses from an extraordinary breadth and depth of offerings.
Curriculum Guide to Business/Corporate/Commercial Law
Corporate lawyers are lawyers who handle a wide range of legal issues for businesses. They may be transactional lawyers, litigators, or regulatory lawyers. They represent people and businesses in starting up companies, selecting and forming business entities, structuring and negotiating deals, drafting documents, and reviewing contracts. They provide sophisticated legal advice on issues that are important to public and private companies, including regulatory issues, aspects of mergers and acquisitions, the sale and trading of securities, regulatory issues, financial matters, and the tax implications of transactions. If they are corporate litigators, they may represent clients in shareholder disputes, hostile takeovers, or issues of fiduciary duty. Often, they become valued business advisors to their clients -- particularly small and mid-size business owners -- and play a role that requires strong problem-solving and client counseling skills, an understanding of business, accounting, and finance; and a basic familiarity with many areas of law, including intellectual property, real estate, antitrust, and employment law.
Courses
TIER 1
Who: Strongly Recommended for
All Students
What: 817: Business Organizations I (fall & spring offerings)
742: Tax I (fall & spring offerings)
When: 2L year
TIER 2
Who: Strongly Recommended for Students Potentially Interested in Business Law
What: Tier 1 courses,
plus
741: Business Organizations II (spring offering only)
840: Tax II (spring offering only)
When: Tier 1 courses in 2L fall semester; Tier 2 courses in 2L spring semester
TIER 3
Who: Strongly Recommended for Students Definitely Interested in Business Law
What: Tier 1 & Tier 2 courses,
plus
953: Securities Regulation (fall offering only)
736: Secured Transactions (fall & spring offerings)
When: Tier 1 & Tier 2 courses in 2L year; Tier 3 courses in 3L year
Other Business Law Courses (Please note that these offerings may vary from year to year.)
329: Taxation: Concepts for Business and Personal Planning
732: Real Estate Transactions I
735: Payment Systems
748: Antitrust
749: Trademark Law
751: Patent Law
752: Copyright Law
753: Introduction to Intellectual Property
821: Bankruptcy
828: International Business Transactions
838: Real Estate Transactions II
843: Unfair Trade Practices
867: Tax III
870: International Taxation
940: Community Economic Development Law
950: Lawyering Skills Course
953: Law and Entrepreneurship
953: Intellectual Property Transactions
953: Corporate Governance Colloquium
