This is a capstone course that builds upon the foundational legal knowledge acquired by students in their earlier years in law school, in particular the basic principles of contract and corporation. It is also an SMU-X course that approaches the topic through practical problem-solving. It is designed to provide students with a contextual understanding of the major types of corporate deals and an opportunity to tackle problems arising from these deals. The course is divided into two parts. In the first part, students will learn the key legal, financial, and business issues arising in corporate deals, including public equity and debt financing, as well as mergers and acquisition. In the second part, students will work on a venture capital investment project under the guidance of our industrial partner, Linklaters.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Understand the general legal framework regulating major corporate deals
- Understand the main legal documents involved in corporate deals
- Understand the business and financial rationales for the legal devices used
- Understand the key issues in negotiating and advising on venture capital investment deals