The Business Law concentration offers rigorous academic and professional training in subjects relating to the legal regulation of U.S. and global business activity today. Students completing the program will have breadth, expertise, and a foundation for professional practice. LL.M. students take classes with some of the nation’s leading theorists and practitioners in antritust, bankruptcy, tax, arbitration, and energy. The curricular program requires students to develop a background in fundamental areas of business law, including required courses Business Associations and Contracts for Foreign Lawyers. Nevertheless, students have flexibility to design their own course of study within the broad range of relevant courses. The substantial elective selection in antitrust, bankruptcy, corporate governance, tax, arbitration, international business, trade, negotiation, energy, real estate, and numerous seminars allows students to expand the breadth and depth of their business knowledge. The Entrepreneurship & Community Development Clinic gives students the opportunity to provide transactional business law representation to entrepreneurs, nonprofit organizations, and community groups.
This concentration is designed for students with a foreign law degree. The Law School will consider, on an individual basis, an application from a student with a J.D. and little background in this area of study.
Additionally, students have access to the programs and centers at the University and the Law School. The Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center for Business, Law & Policy is an initiative of the McCombs School of Business and Texas Law. The mission of the Law School’s Texas Business Law Society (TBLS) is to provide educational, networking and professional development opportunities for law students interested in both transactional – as well as litigation-based business law.
Internal Scholarships
- Association of International Energy Negotiators Student Scholarship Program (separate application required and April deadline)
- Good Neighbor Scholarship (separate application required and March deadline)
- Tuition Assistance for Mexican Students (separate application required and April deadline)
Visit Scholarship Opportunities for more information.
General Requirements
- A total of 24 credit hours that must be completed in one academic year (fall and spring terms).
- 12 concentration-specific credit hours (see below)
- A three-credit writing seminar or a two-credit directed research paper (30-40 double-spaced pages).
- U.S. Constitutional Law for Foreign Lawyers (This course is required for students with a foreign law degree. Foreign students with a background of common law study can request a waiver of this requirement.)
- Non-U.S. J.D. students planning to take a U.S. state bar exam must also complete certain bar-required courses as part of their LL.M. degree program to be eligible to take the bar examination.
Concentration Requirements
Required Courses
- Business Associations
- Contracts for Foreign Lawyers
Sample Courses
Electives
- Adv Lgl Writing: Writing for Business Clients
- Antitrust
- Antitrust: Economic Analysis/Legal Interpretation
- Bankruptcy
- Business Law Workshop
- Construction Law
- Consumer Protection Act (Deceptive Trade Practices Act)
- Copyright
- Copyright-Media Rights Drafting Workshop
- Corporate Compliance & Ethics
- Corporate Governance
- Corporate Tax
- Economics Efficiency Analysis
- Economic Principles: Corporate Finance
- Employment Discrimination Law
- Employment Law
- Federal Income Taxation
- Federal Income Tax of Trusts & Estates
- Financial Methods for Lawyers
- Intellectual Property, Intro
- International Arbitration: Practical Skills
- International Business Litigation
- International Business Transactions
- International Commercial Arbitration
- International Investor/State Arbitration
- International Tax
- International Trade
- Introduction to Domestic and International Arbitration
- Law/Econ Captl Mrkts/Fincl Int
- Law & Economics
- Law & Social Media
- Law, Finance & Science of Global Energy Transactions
- Legal Research, Advanced: Corporations/Securities
- Legal Research, advanced: Transactional Drafting
- Negotiation
- New Venture Creations
- Nonprofit Organizations
- Oil & Gas Taxation
- Partnership Tax
- Patent Law
- Patent Litigation
- Patent Prosecution Workshop
- Real Estate Development
- Real Estate Finance
- Secured Credit
- Secured Credit Workshop (concurrent enrollment in Secured Credit)
- Securities Regulation
- Sports Law
- Taxation of Real Estate Investments
- Tax Planning for Business Entities
- Texas Venture Labs Practicum
- Trademarks
- Transactional Practice Skills
- Venture Capital
- Wall Street Regulation
- Clinic: Entrepreneurship & Community Development
- Seminar: Behavioral Law & Economics
- Seminar: Business/Regulatory Aspects of Health Law
- Seminar: Credit Cards in Transition
- Seminar: Corporate & International Finance & Governance
- Seminar: Credit Cards in Transition
- Seminar: Entertainment Law
- Seminar: Intellectual Property & Technology Policy
- Seminar: International Business Litigation
- Seminar: International Petroleum Transactions
- Seminar: Labor Law
- Seminar: Labor, Inequality & Human rights
- Seminar: Law & Economics
- Seminar: Maritime Law: Commercial Problems
- Seminar: Music Law
- Seminar: Patent Law, Advanced
- Seminar: Regulation of Financial Markets
- Seminar: Tax Policy
- Seminar: Tax Reform
- Seminar: Theories of Intellectual Property
- Seminar: Topics in Corporate Law & Capital Markets
- Seminar: White Collar Crime
Note: The sample courses listed above are sample course offerings only and are not necessarily offered every term. Past, current, and future courses can be accessed on the Law School’s Course Schedule. Clinics are competitive and require an application.