Business Law

Study at the Intersection of Law and Business

Our one-of-a-kind curriculum focuses on the world’s expanding and converging practice of business law. No matter your interest in business, Miami Law offers 100+ courses and experiences to get you prepared. Access our unique number of transactional lawyering courses to prepare for corporate or in-house practice and network with a strong alumni base of leaders rooted in the business industry.

Whether your goal is to work in private law firms, in-house counsel, banking/financial institutions, corporate compliance, media/broadcast companies, accounting firms, non-profits, or government agencies, we will provide you with a thorough understanding of the intersection of law and business.

As a Big Law metropolis at the crossroads of the Americas and as 31st among global cities in terms of business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement, the greater south Florida area offers you rich and wide-ranging opportunities to gain hands-on experience for a business law practice with a global perspective.

Some Facts about Miami and Miami Law

preLaw badge

  • 'A' ranking in 2023 for Business Law Pre-Law Magazine (also in fall 2022, fall 2021, fall 2020, fall 2019, and fall 2018)
  • 4th-largest economy in the U.S. and the 16th largest in the world
  • #1 U.S. city for startup activity and #2 most entrepreneurial city in the U.S. - 247.6 startups per 100,000 people - according to 2020 The Kauffman Index 
  • 2nd largest financial capital in the United States with over 1,400 multinational corporations headquartered in South Florida and one of the largest concentrations of international banks in the U.S.
  • In 2022, Miami took the top spot for new business applications per 1,000 residents per an Axios analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and IRS data.

Maura Smith"I ended up going to law school and focusing really on a business career after all. I think the most valuable part was the critical thinking to which I was exposed. I would say really that the talent of the faculty made all the difference.” 

Maura Abeln Smith, J.D. ’82 
Former General Counsel 
GE Plastics, Owens Corning, International Paper, and PepsiCo 
Knoxville, TN

Courses

Note: Course list is not exhaustive and does not set out a path of study.

  • Advanced Business Taxation 
  • Alcohol Beverage Law 
  • Banking Law 
  • Bankruptcy Law 
  • Blockchain Technology and Business Strategy 
  • Boilerplate: Standardized Contract Terms 
  • Broker-Dealer Regulation 
  • Business and Human Rights 
  • Business Associations 
  • Business Planning Seminar 
  • Business in Latin America Workshop 
  • Business Litigation 
  • Closely Held Businesses 
  • Commercial Law: Payment Systems and Negotiable Instruments
  • Commercial Law: Secured Transactions 
  • Commercial Law: UCC 
  • Compliance Challenges in Emerging Markets 
  • Contemporary Law Firm Formation, Innovation, and Management 
  • Conservation, Tourism, and Development 
  • Contracts
  • Corporate Compliance and Social Responsibility
  • Corporate Compliance and Risk Management
  • Corporate Finance for Lawyers
  • Corporate Skills for New Lawyers
  • Corporate Tax
  • Craft Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis
  • Deal Skills: Cross-Border Finance
  • Doing Business in Latin America
  • Employment Discrimination
  • Employment Law 
  • Entrepreneurship Principles for Start-Up Business
  • Federal Income Tax
  • Financial Accounting for Lawyers
  • Financial Instruments
  • Insurance Law and Policy
  • International Business and National Security Law
  • International Business Transactions
  • Introduction to the Deal
  • Introduction to Business Practices and Drafting of Transaction Documents
  • Intellectual Property for Business Lawyers
  • Investing in Sports: From Private Equity to Venture Capital
  • Labor Law
  • Law and Economics
  • Lawyering and Ethics for the Business Attorney
  • Mindfulness and Motivating Business Compliance with the Law
  • Negotiating and Drafting Private Equity Agreements
  • Regulation of Mutual Funds and Investment Advisers
  • Regulatory Compliance, Corporate Governance, and Sustainability
  • Reorganization in Bankruptcy
  • Securities Fraud Investigations
  • Securities Regulation
  • Statistics for Lawyers
  • Trade Secrets
  • Transactional Drafting and Practice
  • Transactional Lawyering: Deal Skills
  • Transactional Lawyering: Negotiating and Drafting Contracts
  • Transactional Lawyering: Initial Public Offerings
  • Transactional Legal Research
  • Urbanism, Capitalism, and Development
  • White Collar Criminal Law 

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Clinics

Joint Degrees

I feel like both of those go hand in hand, you can’t have the business without the law and the law kind of sets the tone for what you can do in the business in terms of policies etc., so I feel like they really work together and that the law tells you what you can do in business.” 
Shari Munroe, J.D./M.B.A. ‘16 

Sherry Williams"You will never know when an appropriate opportunity will present itself, and someone will give you the chance to do something new, different and exciting. You have to be open, trust yourself and trust your education, and be confident that you can do the work that needs to be done."

Sherry Williams, J.D. '95
Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer & Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Strategic Materials, Inc. (North America's largest glass recycler)
Houston, TX

International Opportunities

Open All Tabs
  • International Moot Court Program

    The only one of its kind in the U.S., Miami Law offers a unique and comprehensive International Moot Court Program in which students travel and compete, in Spanish and English, in competitions around the world. Students advocate the different sides of a case and analyze the problem, identify the legal issues, research the law, write the briefs and orally present it to a tribunal. In essence, the students learn how to litigate a case in front of an international tribunal doing what an attorney does in real life. Past competitions with a business focus have included:

    • Foreign Direct Investment Arbitration Moot 
    • Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court Competition - Frankfurt, Germany
    • La Competición Internacional de Arbitraje y Derecho Mercantil ("Moot Madrid"), Madrid, Spain 
    • La Competencia UBA-Rosario International Commercial Arbitration - Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • The International and European Tax Moot Court Competition - Leuven, Belgium

  • International Exchange / Study Programs

    We offer a variety of international exchange experiences focusing on business. These include: 

    • Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, Spain
    • EBS Law School, Weisbaden, Germany 
    • Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE), Barcelona, Spain
    • Fundacão Getulio Vargas School of Law, Rio de Janeoro, Brazil
    • University of Versailles, Versailles, France
    • University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

  • LawWithoutWalls Program

    This program brings together students, faculty, practitioners, and entrepreneurs from around the country and the world to explore innovation in legal education and practice. LawWithoutWalls enables students to collaborate across institutions and countries, gain business, entrepreneurial, investigative research, and team building skills and, more than that, invaluable experience and insight into the world of law and business.

Externships and Internships

Note: List is not exhaustive and is intended to provide examples of past externships and internships.

  • Accenture
  • AirFrance
  • Bacardi 
  • Baker McKenzie
  • BBC Studios, Latin America/ U.S. Hispanic
  • Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
  • Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
  • Carnival Cruise Lines
  • City of Coral Gables, Office of City Attorney
  • County Attorney's Office
  • Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
  • Delaware Court of Chancery 
  • DHL
  • eBay
  • Florida Office of the Attorney General (Economic Crimes Division)
  • Greenberg Traurig LLP
  • Hogan Lovells
  • Isram Realty Group
  • Jones Day
  • Liberty Mutual
  • MasTec
  • Mayer Brown LLP
  • Miami Dolphins
  • Miami Marlins
  • Office Depot
  • Paul Hastings
  • Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
  • Roc Nation Sports
  • Ryder Industries
  • Sidley Austin LLP
  • Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
  • Sony Music
  • Ulta Music Festival
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Courts
  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
  • Warner Music Latina

Faculty Experts

<

“If a multinational [company] files for bankruptcy, what is the appropriate venue? What happens if you also have arbitration agreements? These are issues that need to be considered in the business world.”

Andrew B. Dawson 
Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs 

  • Andrew Dawson is an expert in contracts, bankruptcy and commercial law.
  • Bill Blatt is an expert in taxation and legislation.
  • Caroline Bradley is an expert in United States securities regulation, international finance, and business associations.
  • Bill Bratton is an expert in business and corporate law.
  • Melanie Cherdack has experience in complex securities litigation and broker-dealer cases.
  • Michele DeStefano teaches a course on law, technology, and innovation, and her scholarship focuses on the growing intersections between law and business and legal entrepreneurship.
  • Scott Eichhorn is the Director for Miami Law's Investor Rights Clinic.
  • Andrew Elmore is an expert in employment and labor law.
  • Stephen Halpert teaches in the areas of business associations, business transactions, securities regulation, bankruptcy, creditors' rights and remedies, and insurance.
  • Frances R. Hill teaches and writes in the areas of federal income tax.
  • Stanley Langbein teaches federal income taxation, international tax, banking law, and commercial law.
  • Lili Levi teaches Business Associations, Copyright Law, and Media Law.  She has previously taught International Copyright Law and Defamation and Privacy Law.
  • John M. Newman focuses on the economics and regulation of digital markets and platforms, with a particular emphasis on antitrust, contract, and intellectual-property issues.
  • Tom Robinson is an expert in taxation, estate planning, and trusts and estates.
  • Rob Rosen is an expert in white collar crime.
  • Andres Sawicki researches and teaches in the area of intellectual property.
  • Marcia Narine Weldon is an expert in business and corporate law, corporate governance, labor and employment law, compliance, business and human rights, and ESG (environmental, social, and governance).
    • Professor Weldon discusses why, in her opinion, law students should study Business Associations in your first year.
  • Patricia White is an expert in trusts and estates and tax law.
  • William Widen teaches commercial law, contracts, and other business subjects.

Conferences, Lectures, Centers