Business and Finance Law

THE LLM IN BUSINESS AND FINANCE LAW HIGHLIGHTS GW LAW’S UNIQUE STRENGTHS, WHICH include an expert faculty, extensive curriculum, access to the Washington, D.C., and international regulatory communities, as well as important links to the New York and international financial markets. The program enjoys strong ties to regulators, business leaders, and scholars both domestically and abroad, including in China, Korea, and India.

GW Law offers an integrated and intensive program for the study of the laws governing economic and financial markets and institutions. Our full-time faculty members are authors of countless books and articles in the areas of business and finance. The program’s adjunct faculty includes experienced private practitioners, seasoned general counsel, and distinguished regulators and judges.

The curriculum includes everything necessary to master the basics and beyond. We offer courses supporting concentrations in commercial law, corporate law, securities regulation, finance, and international business and trade. Students are welcome to design a curriculum that suits their own interests and career plans. GW Law provides close proximity to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, and dozens of other government authorities, associations, organizations, and think tanks committed to the regulation and study of financial markets. This proximity, coupled with the interest and involvement of our faculty, creates numerous opportunities for learning and networking outside the classroom, including participation in the law school’s Center for Law, Economics & Finance (C-LEAF).

Senator Elizabeth Warren addresses a C-LEAF event on campus.

CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS

A minimum of 16 credit hours from the courses listed below, including two (2) credits graded on the basis of a research paper, are required. For non-U.S. law school graduates, the curriculum requirement must include Corporations, unless they have previously completed equivalent coursework. For both U.S. and non-U.S. law school graduates, Corporations may be counted toward the 16-credit requirement. For students who choose to write a thesis, Thesis and a minimum of 12 credits in the field of study are required.

Admiralty Advanced International Trade Law Anti-Corruption and Compliance Antitrust Law Banking Law Business and Bankruptcy and Reorganization Business Planning Chinese Business Law Commercial Paper—Payment Systems Consumer Protection Law Corporate Finance Corporate Taxation Corporation Law Seminar Creditors’ Rights and Debtors’ Protection Employee Benefit Plans Energy Law and Regulation Energy Law Seminar Entertainment Law Environmental Issues in Business Transactions Federal Income Taxation Field Placement Graduate Clinical Studies Graduate Independent Legal Writing Insurance International Arbitration International Banking and Investment Law International Business Transaction Seminar International Business Transactions International Commercial Law The International Competition Law Regime International Finance International Investment Law and Arbitration International Money Laundering, Corruption, and Terrorism International Negotiations International Project Finance International Taxation International Trade Law Introduction to Transactional Islamic Law Land Use Law Law and Accounting Law and Economics Law of the European Union Law of Real Estate Financing Legal Drafting (Mergers and Acquisitions) Legal Drafting (Transactional) Mergers and Acquisitions Modern Real Estate Transactions Negotiations Nonprofit Organizations: Law and Taxation Partnership and LLC Taxation Public Law Seminar Regulated Industries Regulation of Derivatives Regulation of Mutual Funds and Investment Advisers Secured Transactions Securities Law Seminar Securities Regulation Selected Topics in Advanced Antitrust Law Selected Topics in Banking Law Selected Topics in Corporate Law Selected Topics in Public Law Selected Topics in Securities Law Selected Topics in Tax Policy Law Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic Sports and the Law State and Local Taxation Tax Policy Seminar Trade and Sustainable Development Unincorporated Business Organizations and Agency Law U.S. Export Control Law and Regulation White Collar Crime

Contracts will be available, with the permission of the program director, to those students who have not completed equivalent coursework.

COURSES RELATED TO BUSINESS AND FINANCE LAW

These courses are related to, but do not count toward, the Business and Finance curriculum requirement.

Administrative Law Copyright Law Environmental Law Formation of Government Contracts International Dispute Resolution International Organizations Law of the Sea Legislation Legislative Analysis and Drafting Local Government Law Patent Law Performance of Government Contracts Space Law

Most courses are offered at least once per year. Course listing is based on 2020-21 Law School Bulletin.

SMALL BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (SBCED) CLINIC GW Law provides free startup legal assistance to selected area businesses and nonprofit organizations that cannot afford to pay a lawyer. Most clients are microbusinesses comprising one to three persons with less than $35,000 in startup capital.

CENTER FOR LAW, ECONOMICS & FINANCE GW Law’s Center for Law, Economics & Finance (C-LEAF) is a think tank designed as a focal point in Washington, D.C., for the study and debate of major global issues in areas of economic and financial law. The center offers the opportunity for those completing a thesis as part of the LLM Program in Business and Finance Law to participate in the C-LEAF Working Paper Series, which showcases the work of both students and faculty.

FIELD PLACEMENT The Field Placement Program maintains lists of agencies and organizations that provide internships for law students and helps match each participant with an organization that most closely aligns with his or her area of interest. The law school’s location and the experience of the full-time and adjunct faculty provide students interested in business and finance law with access to exceptional internship opportunities. BANKING AND SECURITIES LAW SOCIETY CORPORATE AND BUSINESS LAW SOCIETY The Banking and Securities Law Society and Corporate and Business Law Society student organizations encourage the exploration of contemporary issues in banking law and in corporate and business law, respectively. Through a variety of student and alumni events and programs, these groups work to educate members, raise awareness of opportunities available in the field, and facilitate the development of professional contacts.

THE MANUEL F. COHEN MEMORIAL LECTURE SERIES The Manuel F. Cohen Memorial Lecture Series was created by the friends and colleagues of Manny Cohen in 1979 as a living memory to Cohen, a leader in the field of securities law, a dedicated public servant, a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, a legal scholar, and a teacher at the law school for nearly two decades. The lectures have been presented by notable figures, including David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group; and Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation.

THE FALK ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP (FAME) FAME was launched as an initiative to equip lawyers to take on entrepreneurial opportunities. The program's goal is to emphasize experiential learning by exposing students to hands-on entrepreneurial activity both in the classroom and in the start-up world.

FACULTY

Full biographical information for full-time faculty members and deans begins on page 64.

DIRECTOR

Jeremiah Pam Director, Business and Finance Law Program

FULL-TIME FACULTY

Michael B. Abramowicz Oppenheim Professor of Law

Jeremy Bearer-Friend Associate Professor of Law

Karen B. Brown Theodore Rinehart Professor of Business Law

Steve Charnovitz Associate Professor of Law

Donald C. Clarke David Weaver Research Professor of Law

Lawrence A. Cunningham Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor of Law; Director, GW Law in New York

Lisa M. Fairfax Alexander Hamilton Professor of Business Law

Theresa A. Gabaldon Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law; Director, Academic Programs and Administration, C-LEAF

Miriam Galston Associate Professor of Law Susan R. Jones Professor of Clinical Law

F. Scott Kieff Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor of Law; Director, Planning and Publication, C-LEAF

William E. Kovacic Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy; Professor of Law; Director, Competition Law Center

Jeffrey Manns Professor of Law

Dalia Tsuk Mitchell Professor of Law and History

Richard J. Pierce, Jr. Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law ADJUNCT FACULTY

The Business and Finance Law faculty includes more than 50 adjunct faculty members who are prominent legal professionals from leading law firms, nonprofit organizations, U.S. government agencies, and international organizations including:

• Basel Institute on Governance • Covington & Burling • Environmental Defense Fund • Federal Trade Commission • Miller & Smith Companies • Repatriation Group International • Sidley Austin • U.S. Department of Justice • U.S. Department of the Navy • U.S. Securities and

Exchange Commission • U.S. Tax Court • Vinson & Elkins • WilmerHale • The World Bank

Full biographical information for our adjunct faculty members is available at www.law.gwu.edu/faculty.

Rhoda Weeks-Brown, General Counsel for the International Monetary Fund, gave a keynote address at a recent Innovation in Business and Finance Law Conference at GW Law.

GW Law grad David Falk (shown here with Professor and former Dean Blake D. Morant, seated) recounts his journey from GW Law grad to sports agent for basketball legend Michael Jordan.