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 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 or Financial Economics (ECON 251) at Yale College. Students interested in statistics and quantitative analysis may wish to consider taking Introduction to Data Analysis (ECON 117), Introductory Statistics (S&DS 100), 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 An Introduction to 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 2022. 

For more detail on the Fall 2022 courses listed below, please see YLS: Courses, Fall 2022.  

For more detail on the Spring 2023 courses listed below, please see YLS: Courses, Spring 2023.

Fall 2022

Advanced Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 or 3 units (graded).  A.S. Lemar, A.S.W. Cowing, and C.F. Muckenfuss III.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Community and Economic Development Clinic: Seminar.  1 unit (credit/fail).  A.S. Lemar, A.S.W. Cowing, and C.F. Muckenfuss III.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Contracts: Seminar.  2 or 3 units.  A. Chua.

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Fieldwork.  1 to 3 units.  S. Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Antitrust.  4 units.  A.K. Klevorick.

Antitrust: Directed Research.  2 to 4 units.  A.K. Klevorick.

Antitrust: Directed Research.  3 or 4 units.  G. L. Priest.

Applied Corporate Finance.  5 units.  R. Romano.

Business Organizations.  4 units.  J.R. Macey.

Capital Markets.  3 units. G. Gorton. 

Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  2 units.  A.S. Lemar, A.S.W. Cowing, and C.F. Muckenfuss III.  [Experiential Requirement].

Corporate Crisis Management.  2 units.  H. Coleman, M. Trevino, and M. Wiseman.  [Experiential Requirement].

Corporate Finance.  3 units. H. Tookes. 

Econometric Data Science.  3 units.  J. Angrist and Z. Liscow. 

Federal Income Taxation.  4 units.  Z. Liscow.

Financial Accounting.  3 units.  R. Antle.

Financial Markets and Corporate Law Clinic.  3 units.  J.R. Macey and B.L. Beirne.  [Experiential Requirement].  

History and Theory of Secured Transactions: Seminar.  1 unit.  G.E. Brunstad, Jr.

Housing and Community Development: Seminar.  2 units.  A.S. Lemar.  [Experiential Requirement].  Taken in conjunction with the Community and Economic Development Clinic: Fieldwork.  

Internal Investigations.  3 units.  D. Zornow and N. Kestenbaum.

International Arbitration.  2 units.  M.W. Friedman.  [Experiential Requirement].    

International Trade Law and Policy: Seminar.  3 units.  D.C. Esty and G. Horlick.

Interpersonal and Group Dynamics.  3 units.  H. Brooks.  [Experiential Requirement].

Law, Economics, and Organization.  1 unit (credit/fail).  Z. Liscow.

Networks, Law, and Entrepreneurship Strategy.  2 units.  T. Lehrman.

Robber Barons Reconsidered.  3 units.  G.L. Priest.

Secured Transactions.  3 units.  G.E. Brunstad, Jr.

Sustainable Finance Policy and Regulation. 4 units.  N. de Arriba-Sellier.

[The] Anti-Tax Movement and the Transformation of U.S. Politics and Policy.  2 or 3 units.  M.J. Graetz.

[The] Business of Law Firms.  3 units.  J.D. Morley and D. Zornow. 

[The] Global Financial Crisis.  3 units.  A. Metrick.

Spring 2023

Advanced Antitrust.  3 units.  A.K. Klevorick.

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Fieldwork.  1 to 3 units.  S. Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic: Seminar.  1 unit.  S. Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Advanced Issues in Capital Markets: The IPO.  2 units.  C. B. Brod and A.E. Fleisher. [Experiential Requirement].

Antitrust.  4 units.  G.L. Priest.

Bankruptcy.  4 units.  A. Schwartz.

Blockchain and Digital Assets: A New Birth for Trust?  3 units.  K. Werbach.  

Business Organizations.  4 units.  M. Myers.

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

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

Corporate Litigation Seminar.  2 or 3 units.  K.S. Schwartz.  [Professional Responsibility].  

Corporate Taxation.  3 units.  A. Alstott.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic:  Fieldwork.  2 units.  S. Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Clinic:  Seminar.  2 units.  S. Riethmueller.  [Experiential Requirement].    

Everyday Leadership.  3 units.  H. Brooks.  [Experiential Requirement].

Federal Income Taxation.  4 units.  A. Alstott.

International Business Transactions.  4 units.  A. Chua.

Law and Economics and Law and Macroeconomics: Directed Research.  1 to 4 units.  Y. Listokin.  

Law, Economics, and Organization.  1 unit (credit/fail).  I. Ayres.

Media and Technology Industries: Public Policy and Business Strategy.  3 units.  J. Knee. 

Negotiating and Drafting Secured Transactions.  2 units.  G.E. Brunstad, Jr.  [Experiential Requirement].

Partnership Taxation.  3 units.  N. Cunningham.

Securities Regulation.  4 units.  J.D. Morley. 

The Lawyer as Leader.  3 or 4 units.  H. H. Koh and B. Heineman.   

Topics in Behavioral Law and Economics.  2 units.  C. Jolls.

U.S. International Taxation.  3 units.  J.M. Samuels.