Overview
USC Gould School of Law

Our Business Law area of concentration gives you the flexibility to acquire broad knowledge of general corporate law or hone in on a targeted field within business law, such as taxation, finance, real estate, media and entertainment, or technology. The curriculum can be customized toward the amount of breadth or depth desired by each individual student.

You will acquire the diverse legal and business skills needed for success, while gaining access to opportunities with major business, technology and entertainment firms from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica's Silicon Beach. Our business courses are practice-oriented, with courses taught by distinguished full-time faculty as well as experienced senior practitioners at leading law firms and in-house legal departments in entertainment, technology, real estate, private equity, venture capital and finance.

The curriculum covers substantive knowledge of corporate and business law as well as hands-on, skills-based transactional courses that teach you how to draft contracts, negotiate deals, and identify legal and business issues in simulated transactions.

Both JD and LLM students focusing on Business Law have the opportunity to enroll in courses at the renowned USC Marshall School of Business. In addition, JD students may pursue a dual MBA degree. Other dual JD degrees available include economics, business taxation, real estate development and pharmacy.

Rothman Scholars

One JD student is selected each year to become a Rothman Scholar and receives a full-tuition, three-year scholarship as well as guaranteed placement with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom following the first year of law school.

Earn a Certificate

By completing 24 or more units of specified coursework, you may complement your JD degree with a Business Law Certificate and/or, by completing 21 or more units each, you may earn certificates in Media and Entertainment Law and/or Technology and Entrepreneurship Law. Along with your JD, you may also earn a Public Interest Law certificate with 20 or more units and/or an Alternative Dispute Resolution certificate with 12 units. Some courses may be applied toward multiple certificates.

By completing 12 or more hours of coursework each, you may complement your LLM degree with certificates in Business Law, Media and Entertainment Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship Law and/or Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Obtain Practical Experience

Our Small Business Clinic and Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic give JD students the opportunity to handle real-life cases, working directly with clients. You might represent an online music business, a trucking company, a budding filmmaker, a local Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit, a 3D printing designer or a game designer.

In addition, USC Gould JD students may enroll in practicums and externships, such as the Corporate Practicum and the Entertainment Law externship, which offer further hands-on training in business law.

Our student-run Business Law Advisor gives JD students the opportunity to explore key issues affecting the field while earning course credit.

JD students interested in international business law can take advantage of numerous opportunities to study abroad.

Each year USC Gould sponsors a team of third-year students to participate in LawMeets, a national negotiation competition in which 78 law schools participate. The USC Gould team won the national championship in 2013 and regularly receives accolades in this competition.

Learn Best Practices

The Business Law area of focus offers a series of speakers and events throughout the year, including hosting leading practitioners through the USC Entertainment Law and Business Institute, USC Institute for Corporate Counsel, USC Intellectual Property Institute, USC Real Estate and Business Law Forum and the USC Tax Institute.

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