Program Overview

Program Overview

The Startup Law course takes students through the legal issues likely to present themselves in the lifecycle of a high growth company from inception through acquisition. This course exposes students to the types of issues, questions, and documentation that they encounter as a lawyer for an entrepreneurial venture, but also looks at legal and business concepts from the perspective of the entrepreneur.

Course Details

• Course Number: 540
• Course Credits: 3
• Evaluation Method: Final Exam, Class participation
• Instructor: Bryan McGann (for recent years), Erika J.S. Buell (in earlier years)
• Grading Basis: Graded

Degree Requirements

• JD elective
• IntlLLM NVE Cert
• IntlLLM-SJD-EXC elective
• IntlLLM Business Cert

Pre/Co-requisites

• Business Associations is highly recommended as a prerequisite but may be taken as a co-requisite.

Course Description

The course is a survey of entrepreneurial law considerations and will discuss policy considerations as the material and current events dictate. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of legal issues, including but not limited to:

• Intellectual property
• Securities
• Entity formation
• Business operations
• Human resources
• Tax

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law

Sample Syllabi

Available for download:

• 540-01-Fall2023-syllabus.pdf
• 540-01-Fall2022-syllabus.docx

Course Areas of Practice

• Business and Corporate Law
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Intellectual Property, Science, and Technology Law

Restrictions

Students who have taken Law 534 may not take this class. While some of the content related to legal considerations from the perspective of company counsel is similar to Law 534 Advising the Entrepreneurial Client, this does not satisfy the requirements for the JD/LLMLE nor the LLMLE.