Corporate Finance
Course Information
- Course Number
- L6232
- Curriculum Level
- Upperclass
- Areas of Study
- Corporate Law, Business, and Finance
- Type
- Lecture
Section 001 Information
Instructor
Edward R. Morrison
Charles Evans Gerber Professor of Law
Section Description
This course offers an introduction to fundamental principles of corporate finance that are useful to lawyers. The course is designed for students who have no background in economics or finance. We will cover financial statement analysis, corporate valuation strategies, portfolio theory, the efficient capital markets hypothesis, and the economics of capital structure decisions.
For potential transactional lawyers, this course develops a framework for analyzing the structure of corporate investment decisions. For potential litigators, the course offers an introduction to financial principles that loom large in corporate, securities, tax, bankruptcy, and other litigation.
Do not expect to learn any law in this course. You will be learning the language of your business clients. You will study financial theories and accounting reports, work with spreadsheets, and apply mathematical formulas.
There are no prerequisites for this course. However, this is a demanding course. You must be willing to:
-- Devote 2 to 4 hours of preparation for each class meeting.
-- Learn to use the Excel spreadsheet software. You must have your own copy of Excel on a laptop computer.
-- Apply high-school level algebra and arithmetic
-- Master basic financial economic theory
-- Master a large amount of financial market jargon.
- School Year & Semester
- Spring 2023
- Location
- JGH 103
- Schedule
-
Class meets on
- Tuesday
- Thursday
- Points
- 3
- Method of Evaluation
- Exam
- J.D Writing Credit?
- No
Learning Outcomes
- Primary
-
- A basic understanding of core principles of corporate finance, including financial statement analysis, corporate valuation, and the theory of capital structure decisions.
- A basic facility in using spreadsheets and simple mathematical formulas to analyze financial data and investment decisions.
- An understanding of the role of financial theory in transactional design.
Course Limitations
- Instructor Pre-requisites
- None
- Instructor Co-Requisites
- None
- Requires Permission
- No
- Recommended Courses
- Corporations (L6231) recommended but not required
- Other Limitations
- Recommended: Corporations (L6231) or a familiarity with basic business concepts/vocabulary. Students cannot receive degree credit for this course as well as the Business School's Corporate Finance or Advanced Corporate Finance courses.
