Business law broadly refers to the laws that govern businesses. The term captures lawyers doing transactional work and litigation. Transactional lawyers help their clients put in place contracts and other instruments that give their clients legal rights as they operate their businesses. So, for example, a transactional lawyer might help a client enter into a loan agreement to get a bank loan, or a stock purchase agreement with an investor who wants to buy stock in the business. Business litigators, on the other hand, help a client enforce those rights. For example, a business litigator might represent a client in enforcing a contract against a breaching party.
For all aspiring business lawyers, our foundational course, Business Associations, provides a useful business law background to students on what types of business associations exist, how they are structured, and when each is appropriate to use. This course is recommended for students who have an interest in other areas of study ranging from tax law to labor and employment law to sports law to intellectual property law and to real property law, as business law impacts each of these areas of study. Even family law attorneys need to understand basics about business law, as they often advise clients with ownership interests in business associations.
For the aspiring business lawyer, we offer a rich menu of advanced doctrinal courses, including Secured Transactions, Securities Regulation, and Creditor-Debtor Law, which are designed to foster an expertise in the area. We also recommend Federal Income Tax for Individuals and Intellectual Property for aspiring business lawyers, as business lawyers often need to understand the tax consequences of a business structure, and as well as understand the nature of the client's assets, which nearly always includes intellectual property.
Marquette boasts an exceptionally strong team of experts in the area of business law. This team has more than 100 collective years of teaching and practicing in the field. The faculty members who teach these courses are listed below.
Marquette also offers students numerous opportunities for hands-on learning experiences, both inside and outside the classroom. In the classroom, students can select from a wide range of hands-on workshops that are intended to sharpen lawyering skills, such as Contract Drafting, Corporate Compliance, Negotiating Business Transactions--Finance, Negotiating Business Transactions--Mergers and Acquisitions, Structuring Business Transactions--Music Law, and Business Bankruptcy. Outside of the classroom, students can gain hands-on experience through supervised fieldwork placements in university offices of the general counsel as well as in our Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic.
Marquette also offers a joint JD/MBA degree for the student wishing to coordinate his or her legal academic career with a formal education in business.
Faculty
Full-Time Faculty:
Professor Ralph Anzivino
Professor Jake Carpenter
Professor Nadelle Grossman
Professor Nathan Hammons
Professor Kali Murray
Professor Karen Sandrik
Professors Emeriti:
Professor Frank DeGuire
Professor Edward Fallone
Professor Michael Waxman
Professor Phoebe Williams
Adjunct Faculty:
Professor David Bourne
Professor Peter Coffey
Professor Alexis Dahmer
Professor Paul Jones
Professor Rob Misey
Professor Adam Tutaj
Professor Stan Schwartz
Professor Paul Jones
Professor Peter Strand
Professor Martin Tyksinski
Professor Teig Whaley-Smith
Curriculum and Courses
Foundational Courses
- Contracts
- Business Associations
- Federal Income Taxation of Individuals
- Intellectual Property
- Securities Regulation
- Secured Transactions
Other General Enrollment Courses
- Antitrust Law
- Community & Economic Development
- Copyright
- Creditor-Debtor Law
- Employee Benefits
- Employment Law
- Federal Taxation of Corporations & Shareholders
- Federal Taxation of Partnerships & S-Corps
- Insurance Law
- Intellectual Property
- International Trade Law
- Sales
Seminars
- Corporate Criminal Liability
Workshops
- Business Bankruptcy
- Business Planning
- Contract Drafting
- Corporate Compliance
- Negotiating Business Transactions: Mergers & Acquisitions
- Negotiating Business Transactions: Finance
- Structuring Business Transactions--Music Law
- Working as In-House Counsel
Judicial Internships, Supervised Field Placements & Clinics: Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic, Marquette Office of General Counsel, Medical College of Wisconsin - Office of Risk Management, University of Wisconsin Office of General Counsel, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Advanced Legal Research: Wisconsin Law, Federal Law, Business Law
Related Experiences: Business Law Society Membership, Marquette Business Law Clinic
Course descriptions can be found in the online Law School Bulletin.
Please note that not every course is taught each year.
Student Organizations and Activities
Business Law Society - The Business Law Society seeks to help students deepen their understanding of the interplay between the business sector and the legal system. It provides its members with opportunities to meet and interact with business law faculty and professionals from the local business and business law communities.
Real Estate Law Society - The primary function of this student organization is to increase students' knowledge in the area of real estate, finance, tax, development and other issues that encompass the real property arena. The goal of the organization is to open networking channels between the students, alumni, and greater Milwaukee area.
Registered Student Organizations contribute to the vibrant student community at Marquette University Law School. Scroll through our list of organizations to find the one that suits you best and if you are a current student, you can click on the links to get contact information.