The Preface to the casebook notes that the “lines between law and business are increasingly vanishing. Corporate leaders routinely ask their lawyers for business advice . . .” This course is designed to provide the legal and related business background to respond to such questions as:
How can, or should, a firm obtain financing at different stages in its life, and what laws, regulations and evolving market practices affect the answers to that question?
When and in what form should investors anticipate returns?
How might some participants in the firm’s ecosystem—“stakeholders”—be affected by any given strategy?
Such questions occupy the heart of this field; the course aims to address issues at the intersection of law and business. Again from the Preface: “In many respects, this class can be considered a continuation of the foundational course in business associations. But fundamentally, this class is about deals,” their structure and their legal attributes and consequences. It will be assumed that students have some familiarity with the time value of money and related concepts through their prior experience, the Short Course in Financial Methods for Lawyers, or the equivalent. (If there are doubts, please contact the Professor at: simon.lorne@law.utexas.edu .)
Textbooks ( * denotes required )
Bartlett and Geis's Corporate Finance, Principles and Practice, 5th
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Lorne, Simon 