Business Law Courses. The course offerings in business law at Yale are wide-ranging and interdisciplinary. For students considering pursuing careers in business law, whether in transactional work or litigation, an online survey (the “Survey”) that the Center conducted in 2020 indicated that practitioners at major law firms found Business Organizations and Securities Regulation foundational. Survey results also suggested that, in addition to developing familiarity with the institutional landscape covered in core substantive law courses, students should seek to master the analytical frameworks surrounding negotiation theory and practice, corporate finance, and financial accounting and financial statement analysis. Finally, students who are interested in litigation may wish to note that Survey respondents identifying as Litigation partners emphasized the importance of statistics and other quantitative analytical methods more than those of lessor seniority within Litigation and those in other practices. Of course, the Survey drew from a narrow pool of respondents (i.e., 218 across 24 firms) and there are therefore limits on the degree to which Survey results can be generalized. However, Survey results do broadly accord with the findings of a prior online survey conducted by Harvard Law School in 2013, as well as prior observations on the transformative effects of the incorporation of finance and microeconomics into corporate law scholarship and practice. See After the Revolution in Corporate Law by Center Co-Director Roberta Romano in The Journal of Legal Education. 

The Law School offers workshops in negotiation theory and practice on a recurring basis. For more information, please contact the Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School. The Law School also offers courses in financial accounting and corporate finance on a regular basis. Additionally, students can enroll in Basics of Accounting (MGMT 402) or Corporate Finance (MGMT 541) at Yale School of Management. Students interested in statistics and quantitative analysis may wish to consider taking Introduction to Data Analysis and Econometrics (ECON 117), Introduction to Statistics: Political Science (S&DS 102), or Introduction to Statistics: Social Sciences (S&DS 103), all at Yale College. Students interested in a grounding in microeconomics may wish to explore Introductory Microeconomics (ECON 115) or Intermediate Microeconomics (ECON 121), both at Yale College.

For more information on course selection and Survey results, please attend the presentation on How to Craft a Career in Corporate Law: Foundations for Transaction Lawyering, Litigation, Business and Academic Careers in Fall 2023. 

For more detail on the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 courses listed below, please see YLS: Courses.  

Fall 2024

Advanced Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 or 3 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Cantwell Muckenfuss.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Housing and Community Development Seminar.  1 unit (credit/fail).  Anika Singh Lemar and Jeff Gentes.  [Experiential Requirement] [Professional Responsibility].

Advanced Contracts: Seminar.  2 or 3 units.  Amy Chua.  [Cross-Cultural Competency].

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 to 3 units (graded).  Sven Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Seminar.  1 unit (graded).  Sven Riethmueller. [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Intellectual Property: Working with Patents and Trade Secrets.  2 units.  Victoria Cundiff.

Anatomy of a Merger.  3 units.  Charles Nathan.  [Experiential Requirement].

Antitrust.  3 units.  Eric Posner.

Applied Corporate Finance.  5 units.  Roberta Romano.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Uncertainty, Data and Judgement.  3 or 4 units.  Robert Jensen and Nils Rudi.

Business Organizations.  4 units.  Jonathan Macey.

Capitalism Film Society.  2 units (credit/fail).  George Priest.

Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Cantwell Muckenfuss.  [Experiential Requirement] [Cross-Cultural Competency].  Taken in conjunction with the Housing and Community Development: Seminar.

Consumer Financial Protection.  2 units.  David Silberman.

Corporate Taxation.  4 units.  Rick D’Avino.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 units (graded).  Sven Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Seminar.  2 units (graded).  Sven Riethmueller. [Experiential Requirement].

Entrepreneurship through Acquisition: Purchasing and Operating Small Businesses.  3 units.  A.J. Wasserstein.

Federal Income Taxation.  4 units.  Zachary Liscow.

Financial Markets and Corporate Law Clinic.  3 units.  Jonathan Macey, Gregory Fleming, and Logan Beirne.  [Experiential Requirement].  

Housing and Community Development: Seminar.  2 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Jeff Gentes.  [Experiential Requirement].  Taken in conjunction with the Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  

Intellectual Property Transactions.  2 units.  Sven Riethmueller.

International Taxation.  2 units.  Deborah Paul.

Interpersonal and Group Dynamics.  3 units (credit/fail).  Heidi Brooks.  [Experiential Requirement] [Cross-Cultural Competency]. 

Negotiating Professionally.  3 units (credit/fail).  Daylian Cain.  [Experiential Requirement].

Robber Barons Reconsidered.  3 units.  George Priest.

Secured Transactions.  4 units.  Ted Janger.

The Business of Law Firms.  3 units.  John Morley and David Zornow. 

The Critical Role of the General Counsel.  3 units.  Pierre Gentin and Jonathan Schwartz.  [Professional Responsibility].

Twenty-first Century Tax Policy Challenges for the U.S.  2 or 3 units.  Michael Graetz. 

Understanding Illicit Finance.  2 or 3 units.  Justnya Gudzowska.

Spring 2025

Advanced Antitrust.  3 units.  Alvin Klevorick.

Advanced Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 or 3 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Cantwell Muckenfuss.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Housing and Community Development Seminar.  1 unit (credit/fail).  Anika Singh Lemar and Jeff Gentes.  [Experiential Requirement] [Professional Responsibility].

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 to 3 units (graded).  Sven Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Antitrust.  4 units.  Fiona Scott Morton.

Antitrust: Directed Research.  3 or 4 units.  George Priest. 

Bankruptcy.  3 units.  Eric Brunstad.

Business Organizations.  5 units.  Roberta Romano.

Business Organizations.  4 units.  Sarath Sanga. 

Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Cantwell Muckenfuss.  [Experiential Requirement] [Cross-Cultural Competency].  Taken in conjunction with the Housing and Community Development: Seminar.

Corporate Crisis Management.  2 units.  Heather Coleman, Marc Trevino, and Michael Wiseman.  [Experiential Requirement].

Corporate Environmental Management and Strategy.  3 units.  Daniel Esty.

Corporate Finance in Modern Society.  3 units.  Kelly Shue. 

Everyday Leadership.  3 units (credit/fail).  Heidi Brooks. 

Federal Income Taxation.  4 units.  Anne Alstott.

Federal Income Taxation: Business and Financial Basics.  1 unit (credit/fail).  Anne Alstott.

Financial Accounting.  3 units.  Rick Antle.

Housing and Community Development: Seminar.  2 units (graded).  Anika Singh Lemar and Jeff Gentes.  [Experiential Requirement].  Taken in conjunction with the Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  

International Business Transactions.  4 units.  Amy Chua.

Negotiating and Drafting Commercial Transactions.  2 units.  Eric Brunstad.  [Experiential Requirement].

Negotiation Workshop. 3 units (credit/fail).  Kathy Holub. 

Partnership Taxation.  3 units.  Noel Cunningham.

Securities Regulation.  3 units.  John Morley. 

The Great Consolidation of American Business.  2 or 3 units.  George Priest. 

White Collar Criminal Defense: Critical Issues and Strategies.  3 units.  David Zornow.