To earn the certificate, you must take at least 22 units of mandatory courses, core electives and specialized electives, including:
- 8 units from the Mandatory Courses
- Coursework that covers the Accounting and Finance Requirement (See below.)
- 6 units from the Core Electives
- 4 units from one or more courses listed under Specialized Electives - Transactional Skills or Legal Clinics, Externships or Publications
- The remaining unit requirements may be satisfied from any of the courses listed below (i.e., Business Law Certificate electives, clinics externships and publications listed prior to the descriptions of Concentrations Within the Business Law Certificate).
No more than 6 units counted toward the certificate may be taken CR/D/F.
The Mandatory Courses are the foundation of any business, corporate or tax law practice. The Accounting and Finance requirement introduces basic business concepts that arise in any commercial endeavor or transaction. The Core Electives provide a foundation for achieving more specialized knowledge within selected practice areas in business, corporate and tax law. Specialized Electives consist of a mix of substantive lecture-style courses and transactional skills courses on narrower topics. You may personalize your course selections to achieve specialization within a selected field or to acquire broad knowledge of multiple fields within business law.
Courses that qualify for the Certificate include specialized electives offered through the USC Marshall School of Business that enable law students to study and engage with business students who could one day be their future clients.
Mandatory Courses
- Business Organizations
- Taxation
Accounting and Finance Requirement
This requirement may be satisfied by coursework (either before or during law school) that introduces basic accounting and finance concepts. This requirement is automatically satisfied by students who: take Fundamental Business Principles or Business for Lawyers at the law school**; take Accounting for Lawyers and Corporate Finance at the law school**; have completed an MBA or undergraduate Business Major; or who are granted a waiver from the Director of the Business Law Certificate Program based on other relevant coursework or experience. *
* A waiver of this requirement does not reduce the total units required for the Certificate.
** These courses may also count toward the Core Elective unit requirement.
Core Electives (at least 6 units required)
- Accounting for Lawyers
- Business Bankruptcy
- Bankruptcy: Debtors and Creditors (formerly called Bankruptcy Law)
- Business for Lawyers
- Corporate Finance
- Corporate Taxation
- Fundamental Business Principles
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
- Partnership Taxation
- Securities Regulation
Specialized Electives: Substantive Law
- Analytical Methods (formerly called Analytical Methods for Lawyers)
- Antitrust Law
- Antitrust and Intellectual Property Law Seminar (but not if Antitrust OR Intellectual Property courses are credited toward the Certificate)
- Business Bankruptcy
- Counseling the Startup Company
- Entertainment Law
- Insurance (formerly called Insurance Law)
- Intellectual Property
- International Business Transactions
- Land Use Controls
- Sales Transactions
- Secured Transactions
- Transactional Due Diligence
- Venture Capital Law and Emerging Companies (formerly called Venture Capital Law and Finance)
Specialized Electives: Transactional Skills (Corporate)
- Advanced Contracts
- Advanced Legal Writing for Business Lawyers
- Advanced Secured Transactions Workshop
- Alternative Dispute Resolution Clause Drafting
- Business Planning: Structuring and Financing the New Enterprise
- Deal Strategies In Business And Entertainment Law Deal Strategy, Structure and Negotiation (formerly called Deal Strategy, Structure and Negotiation
- Transactional Practice: The Syndicated Loan Agreement
- Contract Drafting and Analysis OR Contract Drafting and Negotiation
- Negotiation Skills, International Business Negotiations OR any other law school Negotiation Course (No more than 2 units of a negotiation course will count toward the Skills requirement)
Specialized Electives: Transactional Skills (Real Estate)
- Real Estate Transactions and Finance (formerly Real Estate Law & Business I)
- Real Estate Transactions Problems
- Real Estate Finance Problems
Specialized Electives: Transactional Skills (Media and Technology
- Digital Media Transactions
- Technology Transactions
- Dealmaking in the Entertainment Industry (formerly called Topics in Entertainment Law: Deal Making in the Entertainment Industry)
- Topics in Entertainment Law: Legal and Business Issues in the Digital Age
Legal Clinics, Externships or Publications
- Small Business Clinic I
- Small Business Clinic II
- Law for Business
- Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic
Specialized Electives: USC Marshall School of Business
- Corporate Financial Strategy
- Corporate Financial Policy and Corporate Governance
- Entrepreneurial Finance: Financial Management for Developing Firms
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Financial Analysis and Valuation
Not all courses are offered every year.
You may petition to waive any required or elective course if you have taken an equivalent course outside of the law school as part of your undergraduate or other graduate degree.
