Corporate lawyers are lawyers who handle a wide range of legal issues for businesses. They may be transactional lawyers, litigators, or regulatory lawyers. They represent people and businesses in starting up companies, selecting and forming business entities, structuring and negotiating deals, drafting documents, and reviewing contracts. They provide sophisticated legal advice on issues that are important to public and private companies, including regulatory issues, aspects of mergers and acquisitions, the sale and trading of securities, regulatory issues, financial matters, and the tax implications of transactions. If they are corporate litigators, they may represent clients in shareholder disputes, hostile takeovers, or issues of fiduciary duty. Often, they become valued business advisors to their clients -- particularly small and mid-size business owners -- and play a role that requires strong problem-solving and client counseling skills, an understanding of business, accounting, and finance; and a basic familiarity with many areas of law, including intellectual property, real estate, antitrust, and employment law.
Corporate lawyers can serve a diverse range of clients, including small start-up ventures, closely held firms, and large, publicly traded corporations Most corporate lawyers work in large or mid-size law firms, although corporate lawyers also work as in-house counsel (generally after having practiced first in a law firm). Corporate lawyers often develop expertise in a specialized area of corporate practice, such as distribution and franchising, merger and acquisitions, venture capital, or public finance; they may also, as noted above, specialize is regulatory work or litigation. Another area of specialty is international business law, an extension of corporate law practice that advises businesses and governments on issues involving the movement of goods, services, and technology across national borders.
Most business clients engage in commercial transactions, ranging from the purchase and sale of goods in the ordinary course of business to multi-faceted acquisitions and divestitures of businesses. Lawyers who do commercial law represent clients in buying, selling, and leasing goods and services; drafting and negotiating commercial agreements, such as purchase and sale agreements; financing transactions; and in general commercial contracting matters, such as advertising and marketing agreements, confidentiality and non-compete agreements, licensing agreements, franchise agreements, etc. In addition, many commercial lawyers have experience in creditors rights and bankruptcy matters.
(For more information about litigation, see Civil Litigation.
See also Bankruptcy Law.)
Core/Foundation Courses
These are the basic courses offered at the UW that -- at a minimum -- employers expect a student interested in the specialty to take.
- Business Organizations I
- Secured Transactions
- Taxation I (A or B)
Recommended Courses
Students interested in this practice area should consider including one or more of the following courses as electives.
- Business Organizations II
- Negotiations/Mediation
- Taxation II
- Taxation III
For those interested in representing large, publicly traded corporations:
- Corporate Acquisition and Restructuring
- Corporate Finance Law
- Securities Regulation
For those interested in international business, at least one of the following :
- International Business Transactions
- International Law: Transnational Legal Process
- International Trade Law
For those interested in business or corporate litigation, see the
course guide for Civil Litigation.
Enrichment Courses
These courses deepen or broaden the skills and substantive information that a lawyer in this field needs and also provide advanced courses for students interested in a specialty within this area of practice.
- Accounting and Law
- Administrative Law
- Antitrust
- Bankruptcy Law
- Contract Drafting
- Corporate Finance
- Fundamentals of Business Transactions I
- Income Taxation of Real Estate Transactions
- Introduction to Intellectual Property
- LC&P: Community Economic Development Law
- Real Estate Transactions
- Securities Regulation
- State and Local Taxation
- Taxation Concepts for Business and Personal Planning
- Unfair Trade Practices
(Note that whether a particular course is scheduled depends on faculty availability and student demand.)
Clinics, Internships, and Externships
None currently in this practice area.
Student Organizations and Related Activities
Business & Tax Law Association (BATLAW)
The University of Wisconsin Business & Tax Law Association promotes and enhances the study and practice of business and tax law. The BTLA also encourages high standards of academic achievement as well as social interaction with other law students, faculty, and the professional community. Several faculty members and some of the largest law firms in Wisconsin are included in BATLAW's membership.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance(VITA)
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program is a cooperative effort
by the Internal Revenue Service and many individual states, including
Wisconsin, to provide income tax assistance to low-income individuals.
Volunteers trained by the Internal Revenue Service and the Wisconsin Department
of Revenue prepare basic income tax returns free of charge at VITA sites.
Income tax assistance is available for low-income individuals, individuals
with disabilities, non-English speaking taxpayers, and the elderly. In
addition, the program assists individuals who qualify for homestead credit
or the earned income credit. The VITA program is aimed at those for whom
paid assistance may be out of reach. VITA is run through BATLAW.
Faculty
Here are some of the full-time faculty who teach or have an interest in this practice area:
Lisa Alexander
Room 6110
608-890-1234
ltalexander@wisc.edu
Allison Christians
Room 8110
608-890-0923
achristians@wisc.edu
Kenneth
B. Davis, Jr.
Room 5211A
608-262-0962
kbdavis@wisc.edu
John Ohnesorge
Room 6101
608-263-7603
jkohnesorge@wisc.edu
Jason Yackee
Room 9106
608-262-5230
jyackee@wisc.edu
In addition to our full-time faculty, the Law School's adjunct faculty members -- prominent practicing lawyers and judges -- bring their specialized knowledge and experience to the classroom.