Legal Environment of Business (LEB)
LEB 320F Foundations of Business Law and Ethics 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Introduction to the legal problems confronting businesses in the global environment. Only one of the following may be counted: Legal Environment of Business 320F, 323, 323H, Business, Government, and Society 337. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Forty-five semester hours of college coursework.
Restrictions: Restricted to non-McCombs School of Business majors. Not open to law students.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 323 Business Law and Ethics 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
An investigation of the role of law in society; introduction to legal reasoning, dispute resolution, judicial process, constitutional law, agency, torts, government regulations; business ethics; study of contracts. Only one of the following may be counted: Legal Environment of Business 320F, 323, 323H, Business, Government, and Society 337. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in the McCombs School of Business.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 323H Business Law and Ethics: Honors 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
An investigation of the role of law in society; introduction to legal reasoning, dispute resolution, judicial process, constitutional law, agency, torts, government regulations; business ethics; study of contracts. Only one of the following may be counted: Legal Environment of Business 320F, 323, 323H, Business, Government, and Society 337. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Senior standing, Accounting 312H, and credit or registration for Business Administration 324H.
Restrictions: Restricted to students admitted to the McCombs School of Business Honors Program.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 334M Healthcare Law and Policy 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Introduces the legal and political environment in which the U.S. health care system operates. Legal Environment of Business 334M and 370 (Topic: Healthcare Law and Policy) may not both be counted. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Upper-division standing.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 140S, 240S, 340S, 440S, 540S, 640S, 740S, 840S, 940S Topics in the Legal Environment of Business 1-9 Hours
0 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
This course is used to record credit the student earns while enrolled at another institution in a program administered by the University's Study Abroad Office or by the school's BBA Exchange Programs. Credit is recorded as assigned by the study abroad adviser in the Department of Business, Government, and Society. University credit is awarded for work in an exchange program; it may be counted as coursework taken in residence.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 361 Law of Business Organizations 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Study of basic legal principles of business organizations and operations, including practical comparison and assessment of advantages and disadvantages of different types of organization. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Thirty semester hours of undergraduate coursework, or consent of instructor.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 363 Real Estate Law 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
An examination of law pertaining to estates and interests in land, conveyances and mortgages, brokers, easements, contracts, default and foreclosure. Legal Environment of Business 363 and 170 (Topic 13), 270 (Topic 13), 370 (Topic 13) may not both be counted. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Thirty semester hours of undergraduate coursework.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 366 Commercial Transactions 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Applied business transactions, with emphasis on the Uniform Commercial Code; emphasis on bailments, sales of goods, commercial paper, bank-customer relationships, creditor security devices, and bankruptcy. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Thirty semester hours of undergraduate coursework, or consent of instructor.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T Topics in the Legal Environment of Business 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Selected topics on legal constraints affecting managerial decision making and business behavior. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Thirty semester hours of undergraduate coursework; additional prerequisites vary with the topic.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Upper Division
Topic 1: Social and Ethical Responsibility of Business. Examine ethical aspects of the decision-making processes of managers and employees. Explore the responsibility of firms to society and other constituencies. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Same as: BGS 325 Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Topic 2: Name, Image, and Likeness. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic: Name Image and Likeness) and 372T (Topic 2) may not both be counted.
Topic 3: Contracts and Real Property. Focus on general real property interests, including land, mineral, and riparian interests. Discuss duty of landowners, nonpossessory interest in real property, fixtures, liens, co-ownership of real property, the real estate contract, the broker's listing agreements, deeds, and mortgages. Only one of the following may be counted: Legal Environment of Business 363, 370 (Topic 13), 372T (Topic 3). Restrictions: Restricted to students pursuing the energy management minor or business and public policy minor.
Topic 4: Oil and Gas Law. Explore ownership interests in the oil and gas mineral estate. Focus on conveyance and partition of the mineral estate, trespass and third party claims, and oil and gas lease provisions. Restrictions: Restricted to students pursuing the energy management minor or business and public policy minor.
Topic 6: Intergenerational Wealth Transfer. Explore planning and management of wealth and estates through the use of wills, trusts, and gifts; intestacy, guardianships, marital property systems, and prenuptial agreements. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 16) and 372T (Topic 6) may not both be counted. Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Topic 7: Electricity Systems. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 17) and 372T (Topic 7) may not both be counted.
Topic 8: Energy Law and Policy. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 18) and 372T (Topic 8) may not both be counted.
Topic 9: Behavioral Economics, Energy, and Sustainability. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 19) and 372T (Topic 9) may not both be counted.
LEB 372T.1 Social and Ethical Responsibility of Business 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Examine ethical aspects of the decision-making processes of managers and employees. Explore the responsibility of firms to society and other constituencies. Three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Same as: BGS 325
Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.2 Name, Image, and Likeness 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic: Name Image and Likeness) and 372T (Topic 2) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.3 Contracts and Real Property 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Focus on general real property interests, including land, mineral, and riparian interests. Discuss duty of landowners, nonpossessory interest in real property, fixtures, liens, co-ownership of real property, the real estate contract, the broker's listing agreements, deeds, and mortgages. Only one of the following may be counted: Legal Environment of Business 363, 370 (Topic 13), 372T (Topic 3).
Restrictions: Restricted to students pursuing the energy management minor or business and public policy minor.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.4 Oil and Gas Law 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Explore ownership interests in the oil and gas mineral estate. Focus on conveyance and partition of the mineral estate, trespass and third party claims, and oil and gas lease provisions.
Restrictions: Restricted to students pursuing the energy management minor or business and public policy minor.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.6 Intergenerational Wealth Transfer 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Explore planning and management of wealth and estates through the use of wills, trusts, and gifts; intestacy, guardianships, marital property systems, and prenuptial agreements. Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 16) and 372T (Topic 6) may not both be counted.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.7 Electricity Systems 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 17) and 372T (Topic 7) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.8 Energy Law and Policy 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 18) and 372T (Topic 8) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 372T.9 Behavioral Economics, Energy, and Sustainability 3 Hours
3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal Environment of Business 370 (Topic 19) and 372T (Topic 9) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 179, 379 Independent Research in the Legal Environment of Business 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Only one of the following may be counted: Accounting 379C, Business Administration Honors 379, Business, Government, and Society 379, Finance 379C, International Business 379C, Legal Environment of Business 379, Management 379C, Management Information Systems 379, Marketing 379C, Operations Management 379, Risk Management 379. Conference course.
Pre/Corequisites: Eighteen semester hours of coursework in business and economics, six of which must be upper-division; Legal Environment of Business 323 or 323H; consent of instructor; and written approval before the first meeting of the course from the department chair's office, on forms provided for that purpose.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in a business major.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Upper Division
LEB 180, 380 Topics in the Legal Environment of Business 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Selected topics on legal constraints affecting managerial decision making and business behavior. One or three lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Graduate standing.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Doctoral
Topic 1: Social and Ethical Responsibility of Business. Ethical aspects of the managerial decision-making process; application of fundamental ethical principles to business, legal, and social problems. Topics include ethical implications of financial markets; race and gender discrimination; employee privacy; health, safety, environmental, and consumer issues; multinational business firms. Legal Environment of Business 380 (Topic 1) and 380 (Topic 17) may not both be counted.
Topic 2: Antitrust Law and Economics. Legal regulation of anticompetitive market structures and business practices, including political, economic, and historical factors. Monopolies, mergers, horizontal and vertical restraints of trade, and price discrimination.
Topic 3: Law of Commercial Real Estate Finance and Development. The legal framework of commercial real estate finance and development, including basic real estate law concepts, legal aspects of financing techniques and instruments, subdivision land-use controls, environmental regulation of real estate development, and other topics.
Topic 4: Legal and Ethical Environment of Finance. Covers all aspects of securities regulation, including the legal responsibilities and liabilities of investment bankers, stock analysts, hedge fund managers, auditors, and other securities industry professionals; corporate disclosure requirements; public offering rules; insider trading; mergers and acquisitions; shareholder rights; and relevant ethical and global implications.
Topic 5: The Law and the Multinational Corporation. Study of the legal environment in which the multinational enterprise operates, including negotiation and drafting of international contracts, international dispute resolution, expropriation, international investment regulation, letters of credit, tax havens, and cultural and ethical issues.
Topic 6: Intellectual Property and Antitrust. Relationships and tensions between laws designed to encourage competitive markets (antitrust laws) and those that grant limited monopolies (patents, copyrights, and trademarks).
Topic 7: Corporation Law. Legal framework for the formation and operation of partnerships and corporations, including limited liability partnerships and limited liability corporations; introduction to securities regulation concepts such as insider trading, mergers, and acquisitions.
Topic 8: Legal Environment of Business.
Topic 9: Law of the Entertainment Business. Legal aspects of management in the entertainment industry, including contractual and financing arrangements, licensing, and copyright.
Topic 10: Law of Wills, Trusts, and Estates. Planning and management of estates through the use of wills, trusts, and gifts; intestacy, guardianships, marital property systems, and prenuptial agreements.
Topic 11: Environmental Dispute Resolution. Theoretical and practical study of the prevention, management, and resolution of environmental disputes, such as those involving protection of endangered species, wetlands preservation, natural resource conservation, and liability for environmental damage and clean-up.
Topic 12: Legal Regulation of Unfair Competition. Competitive actions that violate state or federal law, such as intentional interference with the contractual relations of others, defamation in business contexts, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 13: Commercial Transactions. A comprehensive study of the legal framework for business transactions, including bailments, sales of goods, commercial paper, lender liability, bank-customer relationships, secured transactions, creditor rights, and bankruptcy.
Topic 14: Intellectual Property. Legal aspects of protecting intellectual property, including patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights; the contractual licensing of these property rights and other legal aspects of technology.
Topic 15: Environmental Regulation of Business. Federal and state regulation of business activities that affect the environment; potential liability of business for environmental damage.
Topic 16: Legal Aspects of Marketing. State and federal laws on consumer protection, pricing (including price fixing and price discrimination), packaging, advertising, distribution, dealer control, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 17: Legal and Ethical Environment of Accounting. State and federal regulations and tort and contract law principles that constrain accountants and create potential liability. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 18: Products Liability. Public policy, economics, and legal rules regarding liability for the manufacture or sale of defective products. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 19: Employment Law. State and federal laws on hiring, supervising, disciplining, and terminating employees: wrongful discharge law, discrimination law, workers' compensation and employee safety laws, and several related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 20: Creating and Enforcing Contracts. Legal rules and practical policies on creating, monitoring, and enforcing contractual rights in a wide variety of business settings. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 21: Environmental Issues in Real Estate Transactions. Federal and state environmental regulations affecting commercial real estate transactions, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability ("Superfund") Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, wetlands regulation, and other related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 22: Law of Corporate Finance and Governance. Legal rules and regulations applicable to a broad range of corporate financial issues, including agency theory, limited liability, valuation, bondholder rights, dividend policy, accountant and investment banker liability, and capital structure and leverage. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 23: Law of Corporate Mergers and Takeovers. Legal rules, policies, and economics of mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 24: Law of Real Estate Finance. Federal and state regulation of real estate finance. Topics include creation, transfer, and discharge of mortgagor's and mortgagee's interests; mortgage substitutes; foreclosures; priority of liens; bankruptcy; and government intervention in the private mortgage market. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 25: Bankruptcy Law and Debtor-Creditor Relations. The legal framework governing the rights and duties of companies, and their owners, creditors, and other stakeholders, in times of severe financial distress. Includes liquidation and reorganization proceedings in bankruptcy as well as alternatives to bankruptcy. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 26: Law for Entrepreneurs. Legal issues and principles affecting the business entrepreneur, including those related to formation of the appropriate type of business organization, capitalization, protection of personal assets from business liabilities, protection of innovative ideas, hiring key personnel, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Topic 27: Cyberlaw. Highly focused coverage of intellectual property law (copyright, trade secret, patent, trademarks, and related topics) as it relates to computer hardware and software; substantial coverage of hardware and software licensing; Internet-related legal issues; antitrust issues in the computer industry; and other topics as time permits, such as encryption, privacy, and computer-system vendor liability.
Topic 28: Business Ethics in the Global Market. Moral theory and its application to business issues in diverse cultures.
Topic 29: Business and Public Policy. Study of the nonmarket environment and its considerable effects on business organizations. Review of business strategies for influencing legislatures, the executive branch, court decisions, and the media.
Topic 30: Legal Environment of Business for MPA Students. Introduction to the legal system, with particular emphasis on its applications to the accounting profession. Additional prerequisite: Admission to the Master in Professional Accounting program.
Topic 31: Energy Law. Introduction to the legal issues facing energy-generating and energy service companies in a deregulating, though not fully deregulated, world. Includes the (de)regulation of generation, wholesale transactions, and retail service, as well as the contractual and other legal issues governing the commercial market for energy.
Topic 32: E-Commerce: Law, Policy, and Strategy. The responsibilities of the strategist for choosing, developing, and managing an overall e-business firm strategy in uncertain legal, market, technology, and policy environments.
Topic 33: The Legal Life Cycle of a Technology Start-up. Comprehensive coverage of the legal issues faced by a technology start-up firm, including choice of an organizational form, employee compensation issues, negotiating real estate leases, protecting intellectual property, raising capital, and taking the firm public. Additional prerequisite: Admission to the Master of Business Administration program.
Topic 34: Business, Government, and Public Policy. Traces the relationship between business and government throughout the policy process and examines the constitutional constraints that affect businesses across different political and legal regimes. Includes discussion of the ethical issues that are intertwined with any discussion of business' role in the policy process. Additional prerequisite: Admission to the Master of Business Administration program.
Topic 35: Business, Government, and Public Policy: Washington Campus. This course examines the relationship between business and government throughout the policy process, from the policy formation stage (legislative and interest group politics) through the policy implementation stage (bureaucratic policy making, and rule enforcement by agencies and courts). The course is cross-disciplinary in that it examines business-government relations from the economic, political, legal, and behavioral perspectives. It focuses primarily on the US political/regulatory/legal system and addresses issues covered further in the Washington Campus event, a week-long seminar with policy makers in Washington DC that precedes the course. Restrictions: Restricted to students in the executive MBA program.
Topic 36: Law, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate responsibility issues and the tools necessary to manage relationships with external stakeholders such as governments, nongovernmental organizations, and communities in legal, political, and cultural contexts.
Topic 37: Financial Crisis and Restructuring. Studies the business and legal issues of corporate financial crises. Includes crisis simulation, moot court participation, and guest lectures by restructuring and insolvency professionals.
Topic 38: Energy Law: Regulating Energy Production. Examination of the federal, state, and local regulatory regimes governing the production of energy in the United States, including the licensing regimes for electric generation (renewable, nuclear, and fossil-fueled) and the regulation of fossil fuel extraction. Discussion of the statutory regimes regulating coal mining, oil and gas production, fossil-fueled electricity generation, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric plants, and utility-scale wind and solar farms. Covers related issues, including policies aimed at hastening the decarbonization of the electricity sector in an increasing number of states and municipalities, and policy conflicts associated with the growth of hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas. Legal Environment of Business 180, 380 (Topic 31) and 180, 380 (Topic 38) may not both be counted.
Topic 39: Energy Law: Regulating Energy Markets. Examination of the regulatory regimes governing the sale and delivery of energy in American energy markets, with focus on the economic regulation of electricity, natural gas, and oil markets. Discussion of how federal and state regulatory commissions regulate price and competition in interstate markets under the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act, respectively, and in intrastate markets under analogous state laws. Covers related issues, including the effects of the rapid growth in renewable generation, the move toward increasing competition and market pricing, legal rules governing the siting of natural gas and electric transmission lines, the pricing of transmission services, rules governing the development of LNG terminals, and disputes over the pricing and regulation of distributed energy resources (such as rooftop solar or demand response). Legal Environment of Business 180, 380 (Topic 31) and 180, 380 (Topic 39) may not both be counted.
LEB 180.10, 380.10 Law of Wills, Trusts, and Estates 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Planning and management of estates through the use of wills, trusts, and gifts; intestacy, guardianships, marital property systems, and prenuptial agreements.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.11, 380.11 Environmental Dispute Resolution 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Theoretical and practical study of the prevention, management, and resolution of environmental disputes, such as those involving protection of endangered species, wetlands preservation, natural resource conservation, and liability for environmental damage and clean-up.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.12, 380.12 Legal Regulation of Unfair Competition 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Competitive actions that violate state or federal law, such as intentional interference with the contractual relations of others, defamation in business contexts, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.13, 380.13 Commercial Transactions 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
A comprehensive study of the legal framework for business transactions, including bailments, sales of goods, commercial paper, lender liability, bank-customer relationships, secured transactions, creditor rights, and bankruptcy.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.14, 380.14 Intellectual Property 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal aspects of protecting intellectual property, including patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights; the contractual licensing of these property rights and other legal aspects of technology.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.16, 380.16 Legal Aspects of Marketing 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
State and federal laws on consumer protection, pricing (including price fixing and price discrimination), packaging, advertising, distribution, dealer control, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.17, 380.17 Legal and Ethical Environment of Accounting 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
State and federal regulations and tort and contract law principles that constrain accountants and create potential liability. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.18, 380.18 Products Liability 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Public policy, economics, and legal rules regarding liability for the manufacture or sale of defective products. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.19, 380.19 Employment Law 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
State and federal laws on hiring, supervising, disciplining, and terminating employees: wrongful discharge law, discrimination law, workers' compensation and employee safety laws, and several related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.2, 380.2 Antitrust Law and Economics 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal regulation of anticompetitive market structures and business practices, including political, economic, and historical factors. Monopolies, mergers, horizontal and vertical restraints of trade, and price discrimination.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.20, 380.20 Creating and Enforcing Contracts 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal rules and practical policies on creating, monitoring, and enforcing contractual rights in a wide variety of business settings. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.21, 380.21 Environmental Issues in Real Estate Transactions 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Federal and state environmental regulations affecting commercial real estate transactions, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability ("Superfund") Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, wetlands regulation, and other related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.22, 380.22 Law of Corporate Finance and Governance 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal rules and regulations applicable to a broad range of corporate financial issues, including agency theory, limited liability, valuation, bondholder rights, dividend policy, accountant and investment banker liability, and capital structure and leverage. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.23, 380.23 Law of Corporate Mergers and Takeovers 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal rules, policies, and economics of mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.24, 380.24 Law of Real Estate Finance 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Federal and state regulation of real estate finance. Topics include creation, transfer, and discharge of mortgagor's and mortgagee's interests; mortgage substitutes; foreclosures; priority of liens; bankruptcy; and government intervention in the private mortgage market. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.25, 380.25 Bankruptcy Law and Debtor-Creditor Relations 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
The legal framework governing the rights and duties of companies, and their owners, creditors, and other stakeholders, in times of severe financial distress. Includes liquidation and reorganization proceedings in bankruptcy as well as alternatives to bankruptcy. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.26, 380.26 Law for Entrepreneurs 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal issues and principles affecting the business entrepreneur, including those related to formation of the appropriate type of business organization, capitalization, protection of personal assets from business liabilities, protection of innovative ideas, hiring key personnel, and related topics. Ethical and international dimensions are included where appropriate.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.27, 380.27 Cyberlaw 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Highly focused coverage of intellectual property law (copyright, trade secret, patent, trademarks, and related topics) as it relates to computer hardware and software; substantial coverage of hardware and software licensing; Internet-related legal issues; antitrust issues in the computer industry; and other topics as time permits, such as encryption, privacy, and computer-system vendor liability.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.29, 380.29 Business and Public Policy 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Study of the nonmarket environment and its considerable effects on business organizations. Review of business strategies for influencing legislatures, the executive branch, court decisions, and the media.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.3, 380.3 Law of Commercial Real Estate Finance and Development 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
The legal framework of commercial real estate finance and development, including basic real estate law concepts, legal aspects of financing techniques and instruments, subdivision land-use controls, environmental regulation of real estate development, and other topics.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.30, 380.30 Legal Environment of Business for MPA Students 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Introduction to the legal system, with particular emphasis on its applications to the accounting profession.
Pre/Corequisites: Admission to the Master in Professional Accounting program.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.32, 380.32 E-Commerce: Law, Policy, and Strategy 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
The responsibilities of the strategist for choosing, developing, and managing an overall e-business firm strategy in uncertain legal, market, technology, and policy environments.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.33, 380.33 The Legal Life Cycle of a Technology Start-up 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Comprehensive coverage of the legal issues faced by a technology start-up firm, including choice of an organizational form, employee compensation issues, negotiating real estate leases, protecting intellectual property, raising capital, and taking the firm public.
Pre/Corequisites: Admission to the Master of Business Administration program.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.37, 380.37 Financial Crisis and Restructuring 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Studies the business and legal issues of corporate financial crises. Includes crisis simulation, moot court participation, and guest lectures by restructuring and insolvency professionals.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.38, 380.38 Energy Law: Regulating Energy Production 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Examination of the federal, state, and local regulatory regimes governing the production of energy in the United States, including the licensing regimes for electric generation (renewable, nuclear, and fossil-fueled) and the regulation of fossil fuel extraction. Discussion of the statutory regimes regulating coal mining, oil and gas production, fossil-fueled electricity generation, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric plants, and utility-scale wind and solar farms. Covers related issues, including policies aimed at hastening the decarbonization of the electricity sector in an increasing number of states and municipalities, and policy conflicts associated with the growth of hydraulic fracturing to produce oil and gas. Legal Environment of Business 180, 380 (Topic 31) and 180, 380 (Topic 38) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.39, 380.39 Energy Law: Regulating Energy Markets 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Examination of the regulatory regimes governing the sale and delivery of energy in American energy markets, with focus on the economic regulation of electricity, natural gas, and oil markets. Discussion of how federal and state regulatory commissions regulate price and competition in interstate markets under the Federal Power Act and the Natural Gas Act, respectively, and in intrastate markets under analogous state laws. Covers related issues, including the effects of the rapid growth in renewable generation, the move toward increasing competition and market pricing, legal rules governing the siting of natural gas and electric transmission lines, the pricing of transmission services, rules governing the development of LNG terminals, and disputes over the pricing and regulation of distributed energy resources (such as rooftop solar or demand response). Legal Environment of Business 180, 380 (Topic 31) and 180, 380 (Topic 39) may not both be counted.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.4, 380.4 Legal and Ethical Environment of Finance 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Covers all aspects of securities regulation, including the legal responsibilities and liabilities of investment bankers, stock analysts, hedge fund managers, auditors, and other securities industry professionals; corporate disclosure requirements; public offering rules; insider trading; mergers and acquisitions; shareholder rights; and relevant ethical and global implications.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.5, 380.5 The Law and the Multinational Corporation 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Study of the legal environment in which the multinational enterprise operates, including negotiation and drafting of international contracts, international dispute resolution, expropriation, international investment regulation, letters of credit, tax havens, and cultural and ethical issues.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.6, 380.6 Intellectual Property and Antitrust 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Relationships and tensions between laws designed to encourage competitive markets (antitrust laws) and those that grant limited monopolies (patents, copyrights, and trademarks).
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.7, 380.7 Corporation Law 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal framework for the formation and operation of partnerships and corporations, including limited liability partnerships and limited liability corporations; introduction to securities regulation concepts such as insider trading, mergers, and acquisitions.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.8, 380.8 Legal Environment of Business 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180.9, 380.9 Law of the Entertainment Business 1,3 Hours
1,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Legal aspects of management in the entertainment industry, including contractual and financing arrangements, licensing, and copyright.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 280C Legal Environment of Business 2 Hours
2 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Two lecture hours a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Graduate standing.
Grading: Student Option
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Doctoral
LEB 180D, 280D, 380D Managing Social and Political Risk 1-3 Hours
1,2,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Examine the sources of social and political risks. Explore how individual firms and groups of firms can work alongside legislators, regulators, courts, social movements, and other stakeholders to gain competitive advantage. For each semester hour of credit earned, one lecture hour a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Graduate standing.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in the Working Professional MBA Programs.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Master's
LEB 181, 281, 381 Managing Legal and Regulatory Risk for Executives 1-3 Hours
1,2,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
Examine how organizations manage legal and regulatory risks, as well as an organization's responsibilities to society. For each semester hour of credit earned, one lecture hour a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Graduate standing.
Restrictions: Restricted to students in the Executive MBA Program.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: No
Academic Level: Master's
LEB 186E, 286E, 386E Topics in Legal Environment of Business 1-3 Hours
1,2,3 Lecture Hours 0 Lab Hours
For each semester hour of credit earned, one lecture hour a week for one semester.
Pre/Corequisites: Graduate standing.
Grading: Letter Grade
Repeatable for credit: May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.
Academic Level: Master's