Best Coursework for Future Corporate Attorney? Forum

[Anonymous User]

If this is in the wrong forum, I apologize. Finished my 2L SA a few weeks ago and got an offer. I’m most likely going to be in the corporate group when I start, and I’ve been taking all business law related courses so far and doing well in them. Reason being is to gain knowledge pertinent to the practice group I’ll be in vs. taking useless classes (because we all know law school doesn’t teach you anything relevant especially to being a transactional attorney). I’ve really enjoyed my business law classes so far and I’m excited with the idea of Becoming a Corporate Attorney. However, as my third year approaches I’m kinda burned out and would like to slack off and not have so many finals that come with these courses, especially because I’ll be doing clinic. I’d also like to cruise to magna cum laude. So I guess my question is: should I take “easier” courses/seminars and enjoy 3LOL or continue on the business law path that involves much more work? If the former, will it still be possible to pick up how to be a “good” junior associate in a transactional group despite not taking certain courses? I know there is much less hand holding as an Associate so is there any value to taking advanced classes such as Corporate Taxation, Business Planning, etc. Thank you.

[cookiejar1]

The hard substantive classes may not be as helpful as you think. Securities Regulation, for example, is generally taught through a litigation/liability perspective which is helpful sure but ultimately won’t be THAT relevant to your practice in Capital Markets, etc. I think it’s smart to coast to a magna as locking that on to your resume/firm bio will have more benefit to you than the marginal things you might pick up in a specific corporate taxation class.

I would take corporate finance and pay close attention though if you aren’t already comfortable with financial metrics. Lawyers tend to shy away from anything finance/math related. That’s silly. If an analyst can do it so can a top biglaw lawyer. Just get familiar with the fundamentals and take ownership of it. That’ll put you ahead of your peers easily.

[QContinuum]

Seconding the advice that getting magna will likely be more useful IRL than any substantive knowledge you might otherwise be able to acquire over the next two semesters.

I also recommend taking an intro accounting/"accounting for lawyers" class, especially if you don't have previous accounting background. Super useful to be able to look at a corporate financial statement and not instantly freeze. And if you haven't already, take income tax. Even if you don't plan to go into tax, it's helpful to understand the basics, as every transaction has tax implications.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I’ve taken Income Tax. I decided to lessen my load based on the above advice. Really don’t want to stress myself unnecessarily this last year

[SFSpartan]

Second the "accounting for lawyers" bit. By and large, coursework for corporate is going to be irrelevant, and you'll learn everything that's important to your practice area on the job.

[Wild Card]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/vol ... law-school

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=2397317

SSRN is down right now.