Law, Business & Entrepreneurship Concentration Track

Faculty Advisor

Program Requirements

GENERAL

Follow all of the steps outlined on the Concentration Tracks page.

The LBE Concentration track accommodates the wide range of interest and expertise at UW Law in business law. Because of this range, business law faculty have created a number of recommended pathways, each of which satisfies the Concentration Track. You can find these pathways through the links to the left of this page.

To satisfy their elective requirements, students may also enroll in courses offered by the Foster School of Business, or other business-related courses approved by a faculty advisor.

Note that not all courses will be available each year.

WRITING REQUIREMENT

At least one of the following experiential/drafting courses:

• B516 International Contracting
• B536 Drafting Business Documents
• E511 Venture Capital Deals
• E523 Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
• E551 Law and Entrepreneurship
• H570 Bio-Entrepreneurship and the Law
• P577 Drafting Technology Contracts

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. All three of the following foundational courses:
   • A515 Business Organizations
   • A517 Securities Regulations
   • E506 Business and Financial Literacy for Law Students OR A516 Accounting for Lawyers
2. At least three (3) elective courses in any combination from the subject areas below:

   Commercial and Real Property Transactions

   • A510 Sales
   • A511 Payment Systems
   • A512 Secured Transactions
   • A523 Real Estate Transactions
   • A578 International Business Transactions
   • E545 International Trade Law
   • E546 International Commercial Arbitration
   • T504 Property Dispositions and Transactions

   Corporate Structure and Governance

   • A530 Basic Income Tax
   • A536 Securities and Shareholder Litigation
   • E514 The Law of Nonprofit Organizations
   • T511 Taxation of Partners and Partnerships
   • T512 Exempt Organizations
   • T525 Advising Privately Owned Businesses

   Structural Transactions

   • A534 Mergers and Acquisitions
   • A552 Antitrust Law & Policy
   • T530 Corporate Reorganizations and Acquisitions
   • T549 International M&A Transactions

   Employment and Compensation

   • A554 Labor Relations and the Law
   • A556 Employment Discrimination
   • A562 Employment Law
   • T521 Compensation and Benefits I
   • T522 Compensation and Benefits II

   Financial Services and Products

   • A583 Insurance Law
   • E502 White Collar Crime
   • E510 Banking Law

   Intellectual Property

   • P505 International Intellectual Property Law
   • P506 Transnational Intellectual Property Law Theory & Practice
   • P509 Antitrust and Intellectual Property Rights
   • P535 Entertainment Law
   • P543 Intellectual Property in East Asia
   • P547 Legal Protection of Computer Software
   • P548 Litigation Strategies for Protection of Technology
   • P552 Strategic Intellectual Property Commercialization
   • P567 Intellectual Property Survey

   Other Courses

   • Other tax, IP, or business related courses as approved by faculty advisor. Each course of this kind must be approved for credit toward the concentration track by a faculty advisor for this concentration track.
   • Courses offered by the Foster School of Business, especially ENTRE courses counting towards the Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate program. Each course of this kind must be approved for credit toward the concentration track by a faculty advisor for this concentration track.

Law, Business and Entrepreneurship Learning Outcomes

J.D. students electing to specialize in the Law, Business & Entrepreneurship Concentration Track should achieve the competencies expected of all J.D. students at the University of Washington. In addition, they should acquire an understanding of the following:

1. Basic financial literacy concepts.  These include:
1. Financial statement basics and the fundamental concepts, limitations and safeguards related to financial statements
2. Different ways businesses are characterized and classified
3. Business plan basics
4. Common business measures and ratios and how businesses are valued and analyzed
5. Core time-value-of-money concepts
6. Basic microeconomics concepts
7. Different types of business debt
8. Stock and bond market fundamentals
2. Corporations, limited liability companies, and the four types of partnerships.  This competency includes an understanding of:
1. The comparative benefits and limitations of such entities
2. The evolution of socially responsible challenges and options
3. Basic agency concepts
4. The statutory framework of such entities and related default rules
5. Core doctrinal concepts related to such entities
6. How such entities are formed and the related organizational documents
7. The duties and potential liabilities of those who manage the entity
8. Owner liability risks and related precautions
9. Core business entity taxation concepts
3. Common legal issues and challenges faced by public companies.  These include an understanding of:
1. The process of going public and related risks and benefits
2. Capital structure design challenges
3. Shareholder voting and proxy challenges
4. Shareholder proposal and inspection rights
5. Mergers, consolidations and share exchanges
6. Shareholder derivative litigation rights
7. Executive compensation basics and say-on-pay rights
8. Public disclosure duties and related liability risks
9. Insider trading risks
10. Legal standards applicable to transactions with controlling shareholders
11. Strategies and legal issues applicable to a fight for control of a public corporation
4. Common legal issues and challenges of closely held business enterprises.  These include an understanding of:
1. Choice-of-entity factors in selecting the best entity form
2. Identifying and resolving owner operational issues
3. Protecting rights of minority owners
4. Funding challenges and related securities law compliance
5. Majority shareholder oppression risks
6. Owner exit challenges and options
7. The process and structural options for buying or selling a business
5. Common business-related ethical challenges.  Examples include:
1. The importance of identifying the real client
2. Dual representation of an entity and an owner
3. General duties owned to business owners and former clients
4. Lawyer serving as a corporate officer or director
5. Lawyer investing with a client