The law school’s Business Law Program is consistently recognized as one of the top business law programs in the country.
The Business Law Institute’s mission is to train great lawyers. The Institute has leveraged the Law School’s most valuable asset – an expert faculty committed to teaching – by placing the faculty’s top business law experts in a shared office space with students. The close proximity of faculty and students facilitates continuous access and close student-faculty collaboration and engagement. This novel educational model maximizes the fluid transfer of knowledge and experience between teachers and students that animates deep, active learning.
The Institute’s generous office and meeting space houses not only Law School faculty, but also the organizations that form the backbone of the Law School’s student-run experiential programs in business law. The Negotiation Board, Business Law Network and Transactional Legal Clinic offer negotiation competitions, professional outreach, and real-world practice opportunities that develop students’ business law skills through hands-on activities and practice. These groups give students the confidence and experience they need to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The Business Law Certificate, which is awarded by the Law School for completing a core set of business law classes, corroborates a student’s strong commitment to this practice area.
No other law school offers the Business Law Institute’s combination of full student-faculty engagement and a wholistic approach to training lawyers. The Institute expects its new educational model to become the industry standard for training great business lawyers.
Fellowship Placement Program
The Business Law Fellowship takes our business law program to a new level. The law school selects high-achieving first-year students to participate in an exclusive seminar series taught by in-house practitioners and then places them in paid summer positions with some of America’s leading companies, where Fellows are ideally positioned to learn to solve both legal as well as business problems.
Sample of Participating Companies
The Business Law Fellowship provides highly qualified students with an extraordinary opportunity to work in-house in the summer following the first year. These placements introduce Fellows to the regular course of a practitioner’s responsibilities and assigned substantive business legal work that supports the employer and also develops a greater understanding of business law concepts and skills. Placement Employers may have a preference as to first-half, second-half, or full term.
Overview
Potential candidates must participate in a rigorous selection process and must:
- Meet a minimum GPA requirement; and
- Participate in an interview process conducted by BLI Faculty with input from corporate partners.
- Intensive Skills Training focused on:
- Business Structures
- Advanced research
- Complete the business law concentration by the end of 3L year
“In the business law program, I have developed practical skills in contract drafting and business and financial planning. In collaboration with the business law faculty and industry employers, I have had the opportunity to pursue my substantive interests in the classroom and the work place”
– Kirkwood Palmer, 3L