LLEAP 3 - Transactions - Research

This course continues to develop the legal skills introduced in LLEAP 1 and 2 courses. By the end of the semester, each student in LLEAP 3 Transactions (“LLEAP 3T”) will be taught to identify issues concerning, and provide useful assistance to a business-client who is engaged in, the purchase and sale of a business.  The American Bar Association identifies a number of “learning outcomes” that law courses should be designed to address.  LLEAP 3T is designed to allow students to “practice” the following learning outcomes identified by the American Bar Association: 

• Knowledge and understanding of substantive or procedural law
• Critical thinking
• Writing ability
• Oral communication skills
• Client skills
• Legal/factual research and analysis
• Ethics and professionalism
• Leadership
• Collaboration with team members
• Self-awareness
• Negotiation

Students will practice these learning outcomes, individually and as a member of a team, by: drafting several discrete contract provisions; completing legal research and thereafter writing a letter of intent; completing legal due diligence; learning to read basic financial statements; completing legal research concerning regulatory compliance and thereafter writing a client-advice letter; leading a client discussion regarding pending issues so as to devise an action plan; negotiating and then translating an oral agreement into a binding written contract; and concluding the proposed transaction to closing.  By the end of the class, the students will have navigated the arc of a business sale/acquisition, understanding the various stages of such a transaction and the role an attorney plays at each stage.