The purpose of the Business and Entrepreneurship Law Program is to create a community of students, law and business faculty, adjunct faculty, and members of the legal and business world who want to think seriously about what lawyers do in the business setting. These activities are important. They have significant impact on society. They also call upon a set of skills and expertise that defines the transactional lawyer. Thinking seriously about what lawyers do in the transactional setting will lead to a better understanding of the practice of business lawyering, which in turn will lead to better methods of teaching, learning and improving these practices. An understanding of business and entrepreneurship law and practice is best achieved when law students, law faculty, other interested scholars, practitioners and the business persons they work with can collaborate. The concentration provides the infrastructure for that collaboration.

The centerpiece of the concentration is its curriculum. The concentration provides an ordered plan of study for those law students interested in business and transactional lawyering. From the first course in Business Organizations, the concentration emphasizes a “learning by doing” approach, using real world problems, simulation and role playing as techniques to impart to students not only doctrinal basics but an appreciation for practice and the expertise required to “add value” in the transactional setting. Subject to any prerequisites for upper class courses, all law students are welcome to take one or more of the concentration’s course offerings. For those students who wish to focus their studies, the program offers the opportunity to complete a Certificate Program.

The concentration’s curriculum is taught primarily by members of the full-time faculty, including Concentration Director Karl Okamoto. In addition to his teaching and research, Professor Okamoto brings to the law school broad experience in law and business, as a partner at an international law firm, as an entrepreneur, as a director of a public company and as an investor. Other members of the law faculty teaching in the program practiced with major international law firms and worked on Wall Street. In addition to the full-time faculty, the program is capitalizing on the richness of talent and experience that can be found literally meters away from the Law School’s front door among the Philadelphia legal and business community. Various experts from practice serve as adjunct faculty, bringing to the law school deep expertise and a commitment to educating the newest members of the bar.

Members of the business law community also are serving as members of the program's board of advisors, providing guidance in the development of the concentration and its programs.

A unique feature of a Drexel legal education is the Co-op Program. The program has developed a select group of co-op placements intended for students with an interest in business and entrepreneurship law. Generally these placements require students to have completed certain business law coursework but reward this preparation with a higher level experience that draws on this base of knowledge. The concentration director works with the co-op faculty to offer students in these placements additional enrichment and support to enable students to get the most from their experiences in the field.

Because business and business people are so important to business lawyers (and vice versa), the program works extensively with the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University. Several members of the LeBow faculty are affiliated with the program, engaging in joint research or teaching projects with members of the law faculty. In particular, the program has frequently partnered with the Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship in Technology and the Center for Corporate Governance at LeBow in developing programs for both students and the business and legal communities. The law school and LeBow offer a joint J.D./M.B.A degree program.

The program seeks to advance the study and understanding of business law and transactional lawyering, by supporting research, organizing academic and professional symposia and other events, and making presentations to the public at conferences or through the media. Professional programs organized by the concentration are often eligible for CLE credit in Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions. For information about upcoming events, click here. If you would like to receive notices of upcoming events and other news, please click here.