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 dominated by big firms and investment banks, and it is difficult to break into. 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
• Personal Income Taxation (or equivalent prior knowledge)
• Debtor Creditor; or Bankruptcy
• Essential Business Concepts/Accounting/Finance (or equivalent prior knowledge)

Additional Courses Grouped by Subspecialty

1. Corporate Law (large law firms or publicly traded corporations)

Essential Courses

• Securities Regulation
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Antitrust
• Recommended
• Business Entities Tax
• Bankruptcy
• Employment Law
• Fundamentals of IP or other Basic IP course
• LLC’s

Related Courses

• Insurance
• Legal Malpractice & Related Economic Torts
• e-Commerce and the Law
• Cybercrime
• Consumer Law and Bankruptcy
• International Business Transactions

Practical Skills

• Licensing Courses
• Negotiation Workshop

Related Upper-Level Writing Courses

• Business Planning

2. General Practice Emphasizing Local Businesses

Essential (see also essential courses for all Business & Commercial, supra.)

• Employment Law
• LLC’s
• Wills Trusts and Estates

Recommended

• Estate Planning
• Law Practice Management
• Insurance
• Consumer Law and Bankruptcy
• Fundamentals of IP
• Business Entities Tax
• Remedies
• Nonprofit Law & Management

Related Courses

• Securities Regulation
• Immigration Law
• Legal Malpractice & Related Economic Torts

Practical Skills

• Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic
• IP and Transaction Clinic

Related Upper-Level Writing Courses

• Business Planning

3. Real Estate

Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial, supra.)

• Real Estate Transactions
• Bankruptcy
• Environmental Law
• Land Use Planning/Zoning
• LLC’s

Recommended

• Business Entities Tax
• Law Practice Management
• Insurance

Practical Skills

• Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic

4. Consumer, Collections and Bankruptcy

Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial, supra.)

• Debtor Creditor
• Bankruptcy
• Consumer Law and Bankruptcy

Recommended

• Law Practice Management
• Employment Law

Related Courses

• Dispute Resolution

Practical Skills

• Consumer and Commercial Law Clinic

5. Information Technology

Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial, supra.)

• Copyright
• e-Commerce and the Law
• Cybercrime

Related Courses

• Nonprofit Technology Transfer
• Antitrust

Practical Skills

• Negotiation Workshop

Related Upper-Level Writing Courses

• Intellectual Property in the Information Society

6. Commercial Litigation

Essential (see also essential courses for all Business or Commercial, supra.)

• Evidence
• Trial Advocacy
• Pretrial Practice
• Remedies

Recommended

• Employment Law
• Expert Witness and Scientific Evidence
• Federal Courts
• Dispute Resolution
• International Commercial Arbitration

Practical Skills

• See recommended courses in Litigation Section, supra.

Related Upper-Level Writing Courses

• Appellate Advocacy
• Ethics, Morals and the Law
• Pretrial Practice