Concentration Requirements

Core Requirements:

Students would be required to complete four upper-division courses to satisfy this Concentration:

• Business Associations (4 units)
• Business Planning: Financing the Start-Up and Venture Capital Financing (3 units)
• Mergers & Acquisitions (3 units)
• Securities Regulation (3 units)

Note: These are the same four upper-division requirements that must be completed in order to satisfy the requirements for the existing Corporate Law Concentration, which is a concentration that is also offered under the umbrella of the Business Law Practicum. While the core requirements overlap, the two concentrations are distinct because of the fundamental differences in the elective courses that must be completed in order to satisfy the requirements of each of these two Concentrations – as explained more fully in the next section of this proposal.

Required Electives:

In order to complete the Concentration, students must travel to LMU's main campus and complete two electives from an approved list of eligible MBA courses offered at LMU's Hilton School of Business. These two electives must be courses that are offered as part of LMU's MBA curriculum and must be related to the MBA's existing Entrepreneurship Program.

Based on our review of the MBA course catalogue and MBA course offerings for the 2011-2012 academic year, illustrative MBA courses include:

• Entrepreneurial and Small Business Marketing
• Financial Strategy
• Small Business Strategy
• Strategic Alliances
• Strategic Marketing
• Marketing Strategies for Innovative Products and Services (in the high-tech marketplace)
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategies for Technology Ventures
• Management Strategy
• Profit Planning and Managerial Decisions
• Business Valuation
• Entrepreneurial Finance
• Business Economics
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Strategies for Managing New and Growing Ventures

Based on our discussion with members of the MBA faculty, we are confident that there will be a sufficient number of approved MBA courses offered each semester in order for our law students to be able to complete the required two electives at the Hilton Business School. In addition, the Concentration Faculty Advisor will monitor the MBA course catalogue and suggest courses that should be added or deleted as appropriate.

NOTE: As a matter of existing LLS policy, in order for students to receive full credit for the two MBA courses that are the required electives for this new concentration, LLS students must complete all of the requirements for the Law & Entrepreneurship Concentration.

Research Requirement:

In addition to these classes, for all students graduating after December 2013 there is a required a research seminar offered by the Library staff that addresses corporate and securities law research problems and techniques.

Experiential Requirement:

Students must complete the capstone course, "Business Planning I: Financing the Start-Up and Venture Capital Financing." This course allows students to understand the lawyer's role in planning and completing business transactions on behalf of start-up businesses by taking a "client" (i.e., an entrepreneur) through a "simulated deal" (i.e., a capital raising transaction for the new business "client"). Use of this simulated deal format acquaints students with the legal, ethical and business issues that confront the transactional lawyer in representing an early stage growth company.

Students are also encouraged to consider other experiential offerings related to the practice of corporate law, through internships and externships. In addition to academic advising, students enrolled in the Law & Entreprenuership Concentration will be invited to unique networking opportunities and offered career guidance.