U.S. Corporate Law and Strategy

Executive Education Certificate Program

Spring/Summer 2023 | Live, In-Person
Program Fee: TBA | Application Deadline: TBA

U.S. Corporate Law and Strategy is geared towards helping practitioners meet the unique challenges of doing business in the United States. This five-day course will focus on several areas of corporate law as it relates to various stages of a business life cycle, including: founding and startup, formation and growth, governance, mergers and acquisitions, and reorganization.

Using an interdisciplinary and practical approach, this program will provide participants with not only an understanding of the unique legal considerations as it relates to a business’s diverse life cycle, but also the skills needed to represent clients or provide legal advice on these matters.

Program Highlights

Access to the Nation’s Leading Experts & Thought Leaders in Corporate Law
Penn Law’s world-renowned corporate law faculty will help you make sense of the most complex and challenging issues in corporate law today.

Unique Chance to Learn from Experienced Practitioners in the Field
Top U.S. transactional attorneys will provide perspective and skills to help you increase your practice and client service.

Opportunity to Network with Peers
Learn from the shared experiences of your peers from around the globe and expand your professional network.

Theory blended with Practice
This program is designed to increase your understanding of U.S. corporate law through a blend of interactive lectures and hands-on experience, including workshops and site visits.

The program offers valuable skills for lawyers trained outside of the United States seeking to expand or grow their practices or transition to a new, business-oriented practice, and is well-suited for U.S. trained lawyers without a corporate background who are seeking to gain a deeper understanding of business-centric practice areas of U.S law.

Participants who complete the program will earn a certificate in U.S. Corporate Law and Strategy from University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Through this interactive program, you will be introduced to several areas of corporate law theory and legal practice, including*:

Entrepreneurship and early-stage capital investment

The initial focal point is on the beginning of a company’s life-cycle—the start-up venture. This topic will focus the legal, business, and strategic issues faced in representing a start-up venture, including entity selection, intellectual property protection, employee issues, raising early-stage capital, first steps in developing a business plan and platform for venture capital.

Corporate governance and advice

As a company grows and expands, and outside investors hold equity in the company and maintain seats on the company’s board, corporate governance issues become more prominent and complex. This topic will focus on fiduciary duties to shareholders, the business judgment rule, entire fairness standards, duties that arise in the context of sale processes, and defensive measures, through the lens of transactions and Delaware case law.

Mergers and acquisitions

The pinnacle of a company’s life cycle is typically the merger or acquisition transaction—the change of control and monetization of the company’s value. This topic will focus on the different types of M&A transactions: public versus private sales, mergers versus acquisitions, solicited versus unsolicited transactions, and the agreements (and related obligations) that govern M&A transactions.

Corporate restructuring and reorganization

A company may face distress—financial, operational, or otherwise—at various stages of its life cycle. Some may additionally require financial or operational restructuring to maintain the go-forward business. This topic will focus on restructuring transactions under the framework of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, including Chapter 11 going-concern sales, plans of reorganization, and the rights and obligations of a debtor-company using Chapter 11 to restructure its business and emerge from bankruptcy.

*Topics subject to change.