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Last spring semester I had the chance to take a brand-new 1L elective created to provide students a comprehensive and practical view of what it means to be a business lawyer. By featuring a broad array of business-focused topics, the new Foundations in Business Law course followed the overall model of its popular predecessor, the Business Law Boot Camp. Foundations was taught by multiple instructors, including practitioner experts and Maryland Carey Law professors, who gave students hands-on practice in skills like negotiation and drafting.
Professors Michael Van Alstine and Hilary Hansen jointly led the class in a way that resonated with our class of nearly 50 1L students. From the start, Professor Van Alstine’s charismatic classroom presence left students like me feeling that even if business law was not for us, we would still take a class with this passionate professor. Equally engaging, Professor Hansen introduced us to the calming, stress-reducing practice of mindfulness now being embraced by business giants like Google and Nike and gaining popularity in big law firms. Outside of class, Professor Hansen offered weekly mindfulness meditation sessions for students to practice this form of restorative mental health.
Professor Andrew Blair-Stanek energized the field of accounting by giving us a preview of his popular mini-mester Financial & Accounting Basics course as he discussed the extraordinary detail in such forms as a cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet. Professor Blair-Stanek’s eloquent style grabbed each student’s attention, and he showed us practical applications of financial analysis with real-world examples of financial statements from Boeing Corporation and even the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Recognized experts in their fields, the practitioner guest lecturers gave robust explanations about their areas of practice. Under the presenters’ guidance, the Foundations course provided the platform for students to sophisticate themselves to those practice areas. For example, Barry Gogel of Rifkin Wiener Livingston LLC spoke about his experiences negotiating the contracts for the Pimlico Race Course and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, among other projects. Students later had the chance to practice transactional skills we learned by negotiating a fictional book deal. Michael Brockmeyer, a partner at Haug Partners in Washington, D.C., discussed the nuances of antitrust law and corporate compliance. Mr. Brockmeyer’s lively lecture engaged students to ask probative questions about the intricate field of antitrust law.
A recent arrival to Maryland Carey Law with a rich background in corporate structure and international law, Professor Will Moon discussed the role business law plays in the day-to-day functioning of a business—whether that business is a street vendor of crab cakes or Starbucks. Professor Kevin Tu furthered that discussion as the class explored securities regulations and how the law affects businesses. Professor Martha Ertman’s class on contract drafting illuminated the soul of contracts as the class parsed the 2018 Stormy Daniels non-disclosure agreement.
The law is a shadow of sorts where one might fail to recognize its sometimes innocuous presence. Even as I wrote this essay, I fell within the parameters of the law of intellectual property. Professor Patricia Campbell illustrated to the class the inner workings of intellectual property and how trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets operate to protect the creations of people and industries.
An expert in federal tax law, Dean Donald Tobin covered key aspects of the vast and complex landscape of our ever-changing tax code, using everyday scenarios to help us understand what people and businesses need to know about income taxation. As Benjamin Franklin allegedly once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Verging on the poetic, Franklin’s idiom magnified the steadfast existence of taxes. Dean Tobin spoke about how a reflection of society lives in the way a government chooses to tax its citizens, reminding me of Chief Justice John Marshall’s quote, “The power to tax is the power to destroy.” These sobering words reflect the inexorable thread of the law intertwined with people’s lives.
The Honorable Michelle Harner of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, a former Carey Law professor and creator of the Business Law Track and the Business Law Boot Camp, encouraged our class to become familiar with the U.S. Bankruptcy Code because lawyers encounter bankruptcy issues in a variety of contexts. She provided us with an overview of options available to debtors experiencing financial distress, highlighting the important features of chapters 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies. A dynamic lecturer, Judge Harner helped us to appreciate why an understanding of bankruptcy law should be part of a business lawyer’s strategic toolbox as she explained the “Top Five Things to Know” about bankruptcy.
Even as our semester drew to a close, the presenters, who pivoted to virtual instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued to engage students. From mergers and acquisitions to negotiations to antitrust law, the holistic approach of the Foundations course synthesized the gamut of business law. As Professor Van Alstine says, “Super! Awesome! Wonderful! Fantastic! Great!” so too was the semester spent in this dynamic Foundations course.
While I am still unsure of the specific area of law I would like to practice, the Foundations course has given me a solid foundation on which to build, a legacy from which to draw, and a community to engage. Coming to Maryland Carey Law, I had no formal background in business and did not know if I wanted to pursue the Business Law Track. The Foundations course reinforced my decision.
Of the many things I have learned so far in law school, besides the actual “law,” is one enduring principle that resonates in whatever practice area one chooses—that is, the law permeates our lived experience, undergirding the foundational premise of our society. Here, the Foundations course illuminated that reality and highlighted how we engage with the machinations that advance communities. The law is about people, and we, as future lawyers, champion that cause.