Course content
The main aim of the course is to provide training in managing the legal dimension of business. A typical setup in a modern corporation involves legal counsel at various stages – drafting and performing contracts, litigating, enforcing IP rights, etc. Modern businesses, however, require an understanding and knowledge of the interplay between law, business and society which is not independent of the role the attorneys play (NN #1). The course is based on an assumption that the quality of legal astuteness is a key managerial skill.
Modern firms face ethical dillemas that are often tightly connected to legal problems (e.g. whitewashing, polution, product liability scandals, problematic platform business models. The course teaches students how to avoid these and overcome them (NN #3 and #5).
The understanding of legal problems is crucial for modern managers as it is no longer possible only to include law at the dispute stage, i.e. to treat law as a pathological element. Therefore, the course attempts to present legal topics for their managerial importance and value rather than to teach black-letter law and/or litigations skills only.
The course teaches the candidates to:
a) recognize the legal problems,
b) put them into the right context
c) develop strategies to avoid problems and incorporate law strategically into the value chain
The topics included are:
- Law, Value Creation and Risk Management; Ethics and the Law
- Sources of Law, Courts and Dispute Resolution
- Contracts, Sales, Licensing and E-Commerce
- Torts
- Intellectual Property
- Trade Secrets and Non-Disclosure Agreements
- Marshalling Human Resources
PLEASE NOTE: since this class is case-based, it requires active in-class participation and preparation. The use of Powerpoints is reduced.
See course description in course catalogue