General Counsel (Biben)
Meeting Times/Location
R 4:30PM - 6:29PM
Tanenbaum Hall 345
Category
Seminar
Credits
3.0
Over the last 25 years, one of the dramatic changes in the practice of law has been the exponential growth of the corporate legal department and the mobility of lawyers from one law firm partnership to another at a rate that was previously unthinkable. These two trends are both directly related to the rise of the General Counsel as a driving force in the evolution of the legal profession.
The General Counsel Seminar will consider topics from areas including White Collar Crime, Corporations and Securities law among others. The course is designed to appeal to upper-level students who are interested in working in-house in either a private, non-profit or public organization or at a law firm with corporate or institutional clients, or as a regulator or prosecutor. It will also appeal to students who are interested in the evolution of the practice of law. In short, it should appeal to just about everyone.
Topics will include: the role of the general counsel; the role of the chief compliance officer; corporate liability, managing internal investigations, managing multi-jurisdictional litigation, corporate governance and the oversight role of the Board of Directors, insider trading and securities fraud, labor and employment issues, Cybersecurity, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the lawyer as “Gatekeeper” and crisis management.
The General Counsel must serve many distinct stakeholders and wear many distinct hats including: counselor and advisor, advocate, department manager, and ombudsman/inspector general to name a few. This course will explore the breadth of issues that come across the General Counsel’s desk. In addition, it will give insight into the analytical and practice challenges of resolving the conflicts created by simultaneously wearing different hats and serving different masters.
The course will be conducted in a seminar format. Students will be evaluated based on a final paper and meaningful class participation. LLM students need the approval of the instructor.
Business and Corporate Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of business and corporate law; Perform legal analysis in the context of business and corporate law; Communicate effectively on topics related to business and corporate law; Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnection between the world of business and finance and that of business and corporate law, and how they affect other areas of law and society.
Criminal Law and Procedure Learning outcomes: Demonstrate a core understanding of criminal law and procedure; Perform legal analysis in the context of criminal law and procedure; Communicate effectively on topics related to criminal law and procedure; Demonstrate an understanding of the role criminal law and procedure play in society and their impact on other areas of law and society.
Perspectives on the Law Learning outcomes: Demonstrate an understanding of how the law affects, and is affected by, the individual course topic; Perform legal analysis in the context of the individual course topic; Communicate effectively on the legal and other aspects of the individual course topic; Demonstrate the ability to use other disciplines to analyze legal issues relevant to the individual course topic, including economics, philosophy, and sociology, as appropriate.
Textbooks
"Indispensable Counsel: The Chief Legal Officer in the New Reality" by E. Norman Veasey and Christine T. Di Guglielmo |