Anyone who expects to work as a lawyer, whether in a law firm or in-house, representing for-profit or non-profit business organizations, should have a grounding in the core business courses: Business Entity Fundamentals, Basic Federal Income Tax, Taxation of Business Entities, and Accounting for Lawyers. We've divided this kind of work into five sub-categories and suggested several courses that may be helpful for each of them. Large corporations. Law firm and in-house lawyers practicing corporate and finance law deal in almost every kind of business issue, from drafting and reviewing purchase and supply contracts, to structuring, negotiating, and drafting documents in mergers and acquisitions, to advising corporate directors on governance issues, to doing securities offerings, or organizing hedge funds. Financial Institutions. Lawyers for financial institutions may find themselves engaged in the regulation of the business, or in the documentation, administration, or workout of loans. Emerging and Small Businesses. A lawyer's business law practice may be geared to smaller or family-owned businesses, or start-up businesses, particularly those requiring venture financing. Non-Profits. Many businesses and other private sector organizations are organized as non-profit or other eleemosynary corporations. Hospitals, education institutions, cultural organizations (like museums), foundations, charitable societies, and non-governmental organizations (e.g., the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, Greenpeace, or Doctors Without Borders), can be large and complex, and involve legal issues much like those facing profit-based corporations. Insurance Industry. Representing insurance companies, apart from what is known as insurance defense litigation, presents particular issues of regulation and organization. The insurance industry is highly complex, and legal work can involve, among other things, traditional corporate governance work, traditional finance industry issues, drafting policy provisions, dealing with agency networks and distributions issues, negotiating and drafting reinsurance treaties, licensing and other regulatory issues, litigation with policy-holders over coverage issues, rate-making in state administrative agencies, and insurance company insolvency (which is regulated by the individual states). Helpful courses include: Insurance Law, Administrative Law, Securities Regulation, Admiralty Law.
