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Business and Finance Law Courses

This practice area focuses on the legal rules governing the formation, organization, financing, and operation of most modern businesses and on the operation of the marketplace. Corporations is the basic course and should be regarded as a prerequisite (or corequisite) for virtually all the advanced courses in this field.

Other highly recommended courses that are considered foundational in business and finance law include:

  • Securities Regulation (6252)
  • Secured Transactions (6280)
  • Banking Law (6290)
  • Business Planning (6296)
  • Federal Income Taxation (6300)
  • Antitrust Law (6402)
  • Law and Accounting (6602)

Courses that are considered foundational in commercial law include:

  • Secured Transactions (6280) [Articles 2A and 9]
  • Commercial Paper—Payment Systems (6282) [primarily Articles 3, 4 and 4A]
  • Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protection (6284) [Article 9]
  • Business Bankruptcy and Reorganization (6285)
  • Banking Law (6290)

The foundational course for international business and commercial law is International Business Transactions (6522).

For students interested in the practice of business and finance law or commercial law in New York City, please see this Bulletin’s description of our GW in New York program.

JD Concentration in Business and Finance Law

JD candidates may earn a JD Concentration in Business and Finance Law (BFL) by successfully completing a minimum of 12 total credit hours from among the list of BFL-designated courses1, including at least four credits of Corporations (6250), two credits of experiential learning from the courses noted with an asterisk (*), and two credits graded on the basis of a BFL-related research paper that meets the standards of the JD Upper-Level Writing requirement2.

1 Courses noted with a double-cross (‡) require advance approval of the BFL Program Director to count for the Concentration.

2 Research papers must be written in a two-credit section from among the list of BFL-designated courses, in conjunction with the Business and Finance Law Review (BFLR), or with the advance approval of the BFL Program Director, a BFL-related research paper may be written for another journal, independent legal writing, or a course not included on the BFL-designated course list.

Courses

  • Corporations (6250)

  • Securities Regulation (6252)

  • Corporate Finance (6254)

  • Mergers and Acquisitions (6256)

  • Regulation of Mutual Funds and Investment Advisers (6260)

  • Regulation of Derivatives (6261)

  • Corporation Law Seminar (6262)

  • Selected Topics in Corporate Law (6263)

  • Securities Law Seminar (6264)

  • Selected Topics in Securities Law (6267)

  • Employee Benefit Plans (6272)

  • Secured Transactions (6280)

  • Commercial Paper - Payment Systems (6282)

  • Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protection (6284)

  • Business Bankruptcy and Reorganization (6285)

  • Consumer Protection Law (6286)

  • Selected Topics in Banking Law (6289)

  • Banking Law (6290)

  • Unincorporated Business Organizations and Agency Law (6294)

  • Sports and the Law (6295)

  • Business Planning (6296)*

  • Insurance (6298)

  • Federal Income Taxation (6300)

  • Corporate Taxation (6302)

  • Partnership and LLC Taxation (6304)

  • International Taxation (6312)

  • Nonprofit Organizations: Law and Taxation (6314)

  • State and Local Taxation (6316)

  • Selected Topics in Tax Policy Law (6317)

  • Tax Policy Seminar (6318)

  • Modern Real Estate Transactions (6330)

  • Land Use Law (6332)

  • Law of Real Estate Financing (6334)

  • Reading Group (6351)‡

  • White Collar Crime (6364)

  • Antitrust Law (6402)

  • Advanced Antitrust Law Seminar (6403)

  • Selected Topics in Advanced Antitrust Law (6405)

  • Regulated Industries (6406)

  • Public Law Seminar (6426)‡

  • Selected Topics in Public Law (6427)‡

  • Trade and Sustainable Development (6435)

  • Energy Law Seminar (6441)‡

  • Environmental Issues in Business Transactions (6452)

  • Entertainment Law (6475)

  • Anti-Corruption and Compliance (6511)

  • International Money Laundering, Corruption, and Terrorism (6521)

  • International Business Transactions (6522)

  • The International Competition Law Regime (6523)

  • International Commercial Law (6524)

  • International Trade Law (6526)

  • Advanced International Trade Law (6527)

  • Law of the European Union (6534)

  • International Finance (6541)

  • International Banking and Investment Law (6542)

  • International Investment Law and Arbitration (6544)

  • International Project Finance (6545)

  • Chinese Business Law (6549)

  • U.S. Export Control Law and Regulation (6553)

  • International Arbitration (6556)*

  • Introduction to Transactional Islamic Law (6557)

  • International Negotiations (6558)*

  • International Business Transaction Seminar (6564)

  • Law and Economics (6598)

  • Law and Accounting (6602)*

  • Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic (6621)*

  • Negotiations (6648)*

  • Legal Drafting (Transactional) (6652)*

  • Legal Drafting (Mergers and Acquisitions) (6652)*

  • Field Placement (6668)*‡

  • Business Lawyering (6810)*

JD Concentration in International Business Law

JD candidates may earn a JD Concentration in International Business Law (IBL) by successfully completing at least 12 credits in Business and Finance Law (BFL) from among the list of BFL-designated courses above, and at least 12 credits in International and Comparative Law (ICL) from among the list of ICL-designated courses, for a combined minimum of 24 total credit hours1.

As part of the required 24 credits, students must complete at least four credits of Corporations (6250), three or four credits of International Law (6520), one course designated as “comparative” from among the list of ICL-designated courses, two or four credits of experiential learning2, and two or four credits graded on the basis of a research paper that meets the standards of the JD Upper-Level Writing requirement3.

1 Jointly listed BFL and ICL courses are not eligible to double count toward the combined minimum of 24 total credit hours, except as otherwise provided with respect to the experiential and writing requirements.

2 The experiential requirement may be satisfied through either two credits of a jointly designated BFL and ICL experiential course, or four credits comprising two credits of a BFL-designated experiential course and two credits of an ICL-designated experiential course.

3 The writing requirement may be satisfied through two credits of an IBL-related research paper written in conjunction with a two-credit section from among the list of BFL-designated or ICL-designated courses, or with the advance approval of the BFL and ICL Program Directors, an IBL-related research paper may be written for a journal, independent legal writing, or a course not included on the BFL or ICL course lists.  The writing requirement may also be satisfied by writing two separate research papers: a BFL-related research paper meeting the requirements of the BFL JD Concentration and an ICL-related research paper meeting the requirements of the ICL JD Concentration.

Course Descriptions