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 candidates may earn a JD Concentration in Business and Finance Law by successfully completing a minimum of 12 credits from among the courses below, including Corporations (6250), two credits of experiential learning from among the courses noted with two asterisks (**) listed below or, with the permission of the BFL program director, included on the Records Office’s current list of Courses that Fulfill Experiential Learning Credits and two credits graded on the basis of a research paper that meets the standards for the law school’s upper-level writing requirement, either written in conjunction with one of the courses listed below or, with advance approval of the BFL program director, written for a journal, independent legal writing or a course that is not included in the list below. Students may use the same paper to fulfill the writing requirement for both the concentration and the JD. Students interested in this concentration must notify the BFL program director during their 2L year.

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)**

*Select sections with the permission of the BFL program director.

JD candidates may earn Recognition of a JD Concentration in International Business Law by successfully completing 12 credits in Business and Finance Law and 12 credits in International and Comparative Law, for a total of 24 credits. As part of the required 24 credits, students must complete two credits of experiential learning and a writing requirement focused on International Business Law through courses included on the Business and Finance course list above, or the International and Comparative Law course list on pages 95-96. Students must satisfy the requirements of both the Business and Finance Law and the International and Comparative Law JD concentrations (e.g., students must take Corporations (6250), International Law (6520), and courses designated by the program directors as comparative). Students interested in this concentration must notify the ICL and BFL program directors during their 2L year.

Course Descriptions