Coursework for Business Law Scholars

There are nine courses students must complete to graduate as a Business Law Scholar. This coursework combines a broad base of corporate law with a traditional business curriculum, including two dedicated courses developed specifically for the program, and two credits of electives students choose to match their career goals. Students who are a good fit for Business Law Scholars will find this coursework well aligned with their law school curriculum plans.

Business Essentials/Mini MBA

Students work through 18 Harvard Business School cases and two Harvard Business School simulations – all led by Professor Stephen P. Hills. The goal of the course is to teach through case study and experiential learning how businesses function, the interrelationships between the various disciplines, and the common problems that businesses face from competition and changing marketplaces. This course is offered during the spring semester of 2L year.

Student report: “Mini-MBA helped me understand the underlying business concepts that my clients, as well as my firm, deal with on a day-to-day basis. The class is the most practical class I took at Georgetown because it helped me learn how to view how the law works in the real world, outside of a casebook.” Zach Wiewel, L’20

Corporate Boards Seminar

This course will focus on the optimal functioning of privately-held and U.S. publicly-listed companies, as well as on the duties of directors and their advisors in times of crisis or significant change for the corporation.  At the conclusion of this seminar, you will have navigated multiple real-life crises that the largest public and private companies face in the course of their business, and will be equipped to play a significant advisor role to corporate boards or other stakeholders requiring commercially-savvy legal representation in corporate crises.  These are the matters that involve the country’s most experienced and capable corporate boards, advised by the best-in-class law firms, investment banking firms, public relations firms, and consulting firms, among other advisors.  Over the course of the semester, the class will analyze eight case studies for public and private companies facing a material, and in some cases, company-threatening crisis.  The course will immerse students in the most commonly recurring disruptive events that cause trauma to private and public companies.  Those disruptive events include commercial failure of the company, allegations of fraud, antitrust inquiries, activist aggression, SEC investigations, DOJ or federal or state Attorney General investigations, senior executive failures or departures, public relations crises, company-threatening civil or criminal litigation, political interference, competitive displacement, and the other most frequently-recurring fact patterns.  We will first identify and analyze the legal issues that frame the viable legal options, and then identify and evaluate the commercial interests of the company.  Within that legal and commercial framing, we will analyze the self-interests, objectives, and risk-reward calculus that drive each stakeholder’s likely decisions and actions.  

We will then role play the response plan to address the crisis, with each student playing a different role

Student report: “the two major classes for BLS (Mini-MBA and Leadership) were great courses that I otherwise would not have had access to.”

Accounting

Business Law Scholars are expected to have a firm understanding financial statements, how financial statements are developed from the underlying accounting information of a company, and how the basic transactions of a business affect each line item of each financial statement. Several courses are available to fulfill this requirement, including a Week 1 course that is completed in a five-day session before the start of the semester.

Corporations

Corporations is a foundation course for people interested in business law. Corporations is a prerequisite for many classes, including Corporate Finance, Securities Regulation, and many other corporate law classes. Topics covered include choice of organization, governance structure, and the fiduciary obligations of directors and officers. The particular nature of the public corporation is explored. The course also considers such policy questions as federal-state jurisdiction, the nature of the corporate governance system, and the role of the corporation in modern society.

Federal Income Taxation

This introductory course in federal income taxation considers the principles and policies of the Internal Revenue Code regarding the taxation of individuals and businesses. Major topics include the definition of income, deductions and exclusions, assignment of income, accounting, and issues of timing. Emphasis is placed on the use of the Internal Revenue Code and administrative and judicial material.

Student report: “I’ll be honest, I did not want to take tax but it became my favorite class at law school. So valuable!”

Finance

Two credits of Corporate Finance are required, which provide students with a foundation in the financial and legal aspects of a business’ capital structure. Finance coursework is designed to put students in a position to collaborate on and communicate regarding corporate finance matters with clients and other stakeholders such as bankers, investors and regulators.

Student report: “This class was really helpful to gain a better understanding of the kinds of transactions I’ll be working on in the coming year at the firm.”

Negotiations

All areas of business law require some level of negotiation. Georgetown Law’s intensive, interactive seminars are designed to teach both the theory and practice of negotiation, with the goal of improving students’ understanding of negotiation as well as their ability to negotiate effectively.

Student report: I loved Negotiations because I thought the professor was funny, engaging, and helpful. He taught us both life and professional skills that I will use for the rest of my life. In fact, at my summer job I had to do a mock acquisition and I used the skills I learned in Negotiations to get a great deal.

Securities Regulation

An efficient marketplace is developed and maintained by securities regulation. This class covers the disclosure philosophy of federal securities laws and the nature of regulation of the securities markets. Among the specific topics covered are registration and exemptions under the Securities Act of 1933 and civil liabilities under both the 1933 Act and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

Student report: “I think Securities Regulation is an important class for any student hoping to pursue business law.”

Elective

More than 20 courses have been approved as electives for Business Law Scholars. Topics range from Mergers & Acquisitions, to Fintech, to Energy Trading. All courses have been proposed by students for inclusion on the list, and are available to all students to consider for meeting their elective requirement.

See a recent Business Law Scholars Curriculum Guide.

Waivers

Business Law Scholars who have previous coursework and experience in any of the required areas may apply for a waiver for a Business Law Scholars requirement. Waivers are considered on a case-by-case basis with input from professors that teach the required classes and from the director of the program. If you have questions about the requirements and think you may qualify for a waiver, please contact Kirsten Alman(This link opens in a new tab).