Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: LEGAL ASPECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Department: Management

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 1.5

Description: This course focuses on the legal dimensions of entrepreneurship and is designed to help students develop the managerial capability to work effectively with legal counsel to solve complex problems and to protect and leverage firm resources. Like information technology, the legal dimensions of business should not be treated as an after-thought or add-on to the business strategy development process. Corporate leaders with an understanding of American law have a unique capacity to protect and enhance shareholder wealth. Conversely, managers who lack the ability to integrate law into the development of strategy can place the firm at a competitive disadvantage and imperil its economic viability. The overarching purpose of Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship is to prepare students to meet the legal and regulatory challenges and opportunities they can expect to encounter as entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and managers of private and public businesses. The course provides a conceptual framework for understanding both the societal context within which businesses are organized and operate, as well as the various legal tools available to managers engaged in evaluating and pursuing opportunities. Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship will offer strategies and tactics for working with counsel to use the law as a positive force to increase realizable value while managing the attendant risks and keeping the legal costs under control. The objective is not to teach business students how to think like lawyers, but rather to teach students how to become more legally astute so they can handle with confidence the legal aspects of entrepreneurship and management. This includes developing legal literacy and learning what to look for when selecting an attorney and knowing when to call one. Repeatable for Credit.