Transactional Law Certificate Program

Foundational Courses

Business Associations.  The core foundational course is Business Associations. This course  provides the context for all transactions. Because business entities generally are the parties that conduct deals, a lawyer must always be sensitive to the complexities of the laws governing those entities.

Tax.  Deal lawyers must also be sensitive to a transaction’s tax consequences. Deal lawyers need not be tax lawyers, but they must be able to spot deal facts that create tax issues. Therefore, students in the Certificate Program take both Federal Income Taxation and a follow-on tax course focusing on corporate, partnership, state/multistate, or international tax. 

Financial Literacy.  At Emory, financial literacy begins with your choice of either Accounting in Action or Analytical Methods. These courses presume no background in accounting or mathematics and teach students to (among other things) analyze financial statements and use financial statement concepts in transactions. Deal lawyers apply this understanding when they structure transactions, communicate with clients and deal team members, and draft contract provisions. 

Finance.  Students in the Certificate Program also take Corporate Finance OR Real Estate Finance, providing them with the critical understanding of how a company finances its activities and how the law applies to these activities. 

Skills Courses

The second component of the Certificate Program teaches students the skills they will need and the tasks they are likely to perform as junior transactional lawyers. This integrated transactional skills curriculum is unique to Emory Law.  It is designed to expose students to material multiple times in order to foster their continued development as skilled transactional attorneys.

Contract Drafting.  The first course in the skills curriculum is Contract Drafting. In this course, students learn how to write in plain English and avoid ambiguity. But they also learn how to:

• translate the business deal into contract concepts
• incorporate the business deal into the contract while protecting the client against risk and advancing its interests
• look at a contract from the client’s business perspective
• analyze risks in the business deal
• problem solve through drafting
• analyze contracts.

Deal Skills.  The second course in the integrated transactional skills curriculum is Deal Skills, which builds on the skills learned in Contract Drafting and teaches students to do the work that deal lawyers do. Through simulations, students learn to communicate with clients and colleagues, manage and negotiate transactions, and accomplish tasks commonly assigned to junior associates in the practice of transactional law. 

Capstones.  The third and final component of the transactional skills curriculum is the capstone course. Each capstone course focuses on a different area of transactional practice. Recent capstone courses include Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity,  General Counsel, Commercial Lending, and Commercial Real Estate. In these courses, students are not performing tasks and learning skills for the first time. Instead, in the capstone courses, students hone and master what they have previously learned.