Introduction to agency, partnerships and corporations. The class will focus on roles, powers, rights, duties and liabilities of partners, corporate directors and shareholders. Hybrid forms of organization -- such as LLPs and LLCs -- will also be mentioned. After the overview of agency and partnership law, the course will focus on corporate governance issues in publicly held companies. In addition to the state corporation laws of several jurisdictions, the course will address selected federal statutes and regulations relevant to corporations -- such as proxy regulation, Sarbanes-Oxley, and, time permitting, insider trading. The introductory Business Associations course is essential not only for those who know that they want to become corporate lawyers and even litigators, but also for everyone who reads the daily newspaper during this era of corporate scandal.
