Hero Background Image

Business Law Certificate - LLM

USC Gould School of Law

Earning a certificate in Business Law in addition to your LLM degree helps you acquire the diverse legal, business and negotiating skills required to succeed in business law practice. It also offers you a credential that demonstrates your specialized training in this thriving and wide-ranging field.

Students are limited to pursuing one certificate with their degree.

Certificate Requirements

To earn the Business Law certificate, you must take at least 12 units of mandatory and elective courses. Sample elective courses are provided below. Students must complete at least 8 units of numeric grading within the certificate courses and should consult with an academic advisor to confirm enrollment in the correct elective courses, as electives may vary by year

Mandatory Courses

  • Business Organizations

Electives (at least 8 units required)

  • Accounting for Lawyers
  • Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy
  • Analytical Methods for Lawyers
  • Antitrust Law I
  • Bankruptcy: Debtors and Creditors
  • Business Bankruptcy
  • Business for Lawyers
  • Contracts (LLM)
  • Contract Drafting, Analysis and Negotiation
  • Corporate Finance
  • Corporate Fraud
  • Corporate Taxation
  • Counseling the Start Up
  • Dealmaking in the Entertainment Industry (LLM)
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Partnerships and LLCs
  • Sales Transactions
  • Secured Transactions
  • Securities Regulation
  • Topics in Entertainment Law: Current Issues Challenging the Industry
  • Transactional Due Diligence

USC Marshall School of Business courses

  • Corporate Financial Strategy
  • Entrepreneurial Finance

You may choose to take one graduate-level course at USC Marshall. To request enrollment, email [email protected] with the course name and number.

Not all courses are offered every year. Courses are open to all students, not just those pursuing a certificate. You must earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.6 in your certificate coursework to receive the certificate.

Per American Bar Association requirements, courses taken outside USC Gould do not count toward the LLM degree. In addition, the New York Bar does not recognize USC Marshall School of Business courses.