Strategic International Commercial Transactions

This course is designed to introduce the student to several of the most frequently encountered types of strategic international business arrangements -- including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances, project finance, intellectual property licensing, and international private equity and venture capital transactions. We will compare and contrast deal elements common to international transactions of varying types. In addition, we will look at how specific elements of the U.S. regulatory environment and foreign regulatory environments affect international transactions and will consider what kinds of barriers -- legal, financial, cultural, commercial, practical, and ethical -- businesses face in cross-border deals. What are the elements which make a transaction truly international? How do international transactions differ from purely domestic ones? What is the role of the lawyer in international transactions? This course is targeted to JD, LLM, and MBA students who are interested in learning more about international corporate law and business. We will be taking a decidedly hands on, practical approach, which will include close scrutiny and examination of actual deal agreements and related documents. The class is a basic, survey-style course, intended as an introduction to the world of international deal-making for the relatively uninitiated -- students with significant deal-making experience may find it insufficiently challenging. Students will be responsible for reading assignments, class participation, and preparation of an 8-10 page mid-term take-home client memo. In lieu of a final exam, JD and LLM students will be expected to prepare, individually, a 25-30 page research paper, and MBA students (who will be earning 3 credits for this course) will be expected to prepare, individually, two separate 15–20 page research papers, in each case on a topic of international business law as agreed upon with the instructor. A select number of students will have the opportunity to present the results of their research to the class. JD minor writing credit granted upon completion. LLM writing credit granted upon completion The course is solely being offered at Columbia Law School: https://www.law.columbia.edu/academics/courses/34204