Business Law

The faculty has approved a Certificate in Business Law. The certificate, which will be awarded to qualified Lewis & Clark Law School students at graduation, recognizes successful curriculum concentration in the field of business law. Students who believe that they will fulfill the requirements as set forth below must complete an application that is available from the Registrar in order to be awarded a certificate. Students qualify for a certificate by satisfying the requirements set forth below:

Based on the course and writing selections indicated below, a student who satisfies the requirements for the certificate will be entitled to a certificate denominated “Certificate in Business Law.”

Course credit may be allowed, in the discretion of the Director of the Business Law Program, for one course, of up to three (3) units of credit, taken at another law school. In that event, only the credit earned for that course will be applied to the certificate. The grade earned for the course will not be counted in determining the student’s GPA for the certificate. Unless approved in advance by the Director of the Business Law Program, no more than four (4) units of credit (including units transferred from another law school) used to qualify for the certificate may be taken on a credit/no credit basis.

1. Course Requirements:

Students must complete Business Association I and Income Tax I as well as seven additional courses taken from five categories listed on the application instructions (see the Business Law Certificate Description) or the website listing Certificate Programs, http://www.lclark.edu/dept/lawreg/certificates.html

2. Writing Requirement for students entering 2007 and earlier:

To obtain the certificate, a student must satisfy the requirements of both A and B below:

a) A research paper satisfying the “A” writing requirement: The student must write a substantial research paper on a business law topic that satisfies the “A” writing requirement. Unless the paper is written for a seminar listed in Level 4A, the paper must be approved in advance by both the supervising faculty member and the Director of the Business Law Program as qualifying toward the certificate.

b) A paper satisfying the “B” writing requirement: The student must complete a writing project on a business law topic that satisfies the “B” writing requirement.

Unless the written work is for a course or seminar listed in Level 4A, or for the Lewis & Clark Law Review, the project must be approved in advance by both the supervising faculty member and the Director of the Business Law Program as qualifying toward the certificate.

Students entering Fall 2008 or later:

To obtain the certificate, a student must complete a Capstone paper on a business law topic and one other writing assignment that is focused on a business law topic. Paper requirement are set forth below:

A. A research paper satisfying the Capstone writing requirement - The student must write a substantial research paper for a seminar listed in Level 4, or for the Lewis & Clark Law Review, on a business law topic that satisfies the Capstone writing requirement

B. A paper (or series of papers) focusing on a business law topic that either satisfies the WIE writing requirementor is written for a non-WIE business-law course. The paper is to be written for a course or seminar listed in Level 4 or for the Lewis & Clark Law Review.

Note: Unless the research paper or written project is written for a course or seminar listed in Level 4, as noted above, the paper or project must be approved in advance by both supervising faculty member and the Dean of the Business Law Program as qualifying toward the certificate.

3. Grade Point Requirement

The student must maintain a grade point average of B (3.00) or better in courses taken and selected as qualifying for the certificate. No course credits transferred from another law school and accepted for use toward a certificate, or credits for a class taken on a credit/no credit basis and approved by the Director, will be used in computing the grade point average.

4. Certificate Election

Students may not earn a business law certificate (either version) and a certificate in federal tax law, nor may they earn a business law certificate (either version) and a certificate in intellectual property law. A student whose course and paper selections qualify for one of the business law certificates and the certificate in federal tax law or the certificate in intellectual property law, must elect one of them and may not receive multiple certificates.

For a complete listing of the courses that qualify for the Business Law Certificate see the website

http://www.lclark.edu/dept/lawreg/certificates.html