For students wishing to pursue transactional practice areas, many law schools offer broad programming in the areas of business, corporate and banking law.
Case Western Reserve University School of Law students are introduced to these practice areas during their first year as part of the law school’s skill development program. Students interested in transactional law can take a third-semester skills course focused on skills needed to succeed in practice areas such as business law and compliance.
“Our school has always been aggressive in incorporating skills into the student experience,” said Jonathan Adler, professor and director of the Center for Business Law & Regulation. “We have developed a lot of different opportunities for students interested in transactional practice areas.”
Outside of the classroom, students at Case Western Reserve are exposed to a variety of transactional issues through its Center for Business Law and Regulation and its recently launched Financial Integrity Institute. Both centers sponsor research programs and public academic programs open to students that focus on topics relevant to business and financial regulation.
Clinical opportunities to explore business-related issues are also available to Case Western law students through Fusion, an interdisciplinary certificate program that teams law students with business and engineering students. Students can also participate in the IP Venture Clinic, where they represent startup companies as they develop plans to commercialize technology.
At University of Washington School of Law, there are several business-related concentrations for students to choose from.
“Business law is so broad, and we want to make sure students are properly advised in specific practice areas,” professor Scott Schumacher said.
The number of business law-related courses a student at University of Washington can take may seem overwhelming, but the law school is on a quarter system, meaning it can offer more courses than schools following a semester system, Schumacher said.
Full-time faculty members teach foundational courses, and local lawyers teach highly specialized courses. University of Washington’s location in the heart of Seattle gives students opportunities to engage with professionals in one of the most innovative business environments in the U.S.
“What UW Law is able to do is unique because of the companies and innovative industry leaders involved,” Schumacher said. “Students are able to learn from the practitioners working on the cutting edge of the law.”
For students interested in financial regulation, Duke University School of Law has a center dedicated to it. Through the school’s Global Financial Markets Center, students are exposed to complex issues they may face in a highly regulated practice area.
“A lot of students do not have a financial background when they come to law school,” said Lee Reiners, director of the Global Financial Markets Center. “We give students an understanding of the financial industry landscape and how all the pieces fit together.”
The center sponsors speeches, movie screenings, panel discussions and a financial market boot camp for students who have never taken a financial course. The boot camp covers the basics of stocks, bonds, discounted cash flows, derivatives and sovereign debt.
“Obviously, law students that go into financial regulatory practice after graduation do not need to be experts, but to the extent that our students grasp the vocabulary, they have a leg up on their competition,” Reiners said.
