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.

Whether your goal is to work in private law firms, 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.

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

  

  • 'A' ranking in 2022 for Business Law Pre-Law Magazine (also in fall 2021, fall 2020, fall 2019, and fall 2018)
  • 3rd richest city in the U.S. and the 8th richest in the world in terms of purchasing power, according to a 2018 UBS study of 77 world cities
  • 4th-largest economy in the U.S. and the 16th largest in the world
  • #2 most entrepreneurial city in the U.S. with the country's highest startup density - 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.

"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

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

Academic Programs and Concentrations

• Litigation Skills Program 
• Transactional Skills Program
• Concentration in the Business of Innovation, Law and Technology: BILT
• Concentration in Business Compliance and Sustainability
• Concentration in International Tax
• Concentration in Transactional Law
• Concentration in Taxation of High Net Worth Individuals

Clinics and Practicums

• Bankruptcy Clinic
• Investor Rights Clinic 
• Startup Clinic  - Certified by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Joint Degrees

“In looking to make the next step career-wise. Should I take the time and go back to law school or should I peruse my MBA? And one day I said, ‘Well, why not do both’? ...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 
Associate Attorney, Liebler Gonzalez & Portuondo 
Fort Lauderdale, FL

• J.D./M.B.A. - Business Administration 
• J.D./M.S. - Accountancy
• J.D./M.A. - Music Industry 
• J.D./LL.M. - Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law 
• J.D./LL.M. - Estate Planning 
• J.D./LL.M. - Real Estate Development 
• J.D./LL.M. - Tax
• Triple Degree Programs for Undergraduate Business Majors: J.D./M.B.A. + LL.M. in Estate Planning, Real Estate Development, or Tax

"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 Compliance Officer, Strategic Materials, Inc. (North America's largest glass recycler)
(Former SVP and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, Halliburton Company)
Houston, TX

• 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.

• Student Organizations
• Law Journals

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

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 Associate Director and Practitioner-in-Residence 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 

• Bankruptcy Skills Annual Workshop
• Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning
• Ralph E. Boyer Institute on Condominium and Cluster Development Law