Business law students learned about deal making from a General Counsel’s perspective in an Xperiential Workshop program entitled “Accelerating the Deal.”
Intel’s Associate General Counsel Trevor Jones and Intel’s Executive in Residence Chris Croteau outlined an acquisition and licensing opportunity that was adapted from several actual corporate transactions. They familiarized students with concepts such as “value drivers”’ and “offer sheets” while involving them in group work aimed at shaping various deals, from cooperative ventures to an outright purchase.
The students—with varied interests in business, entertainment & media, and cannabis law—were uniformly enthusiastic about participating in a workshop that closely simulated the work of practicing corporate counsel.
Building on relationships in the region, the Center for Business Law and Innovation (CBLI) has offered a broad variety of programs for students, including the Xperiential Workshops. The CBLI works with local industry and business leaders, designing hands-on learning opportunities and expert advice for students interested in the intersection of law and business. Each workshop is designed to remain small, increasing the benefit to student participants; demand remains high and acceptance into the workshops is competitive.
Previous CBLI Xperiential programming ranges across industries and the intersection of business and law. A recent example is a contract drafting workshop which included copyright considerations; it was led by James Ball of cdBaby, Ryan Mauk of Mauk Law, and Greg Levinson, a Lewis & Clark Law contract drafting adjunct professor. A fact pattern was distributed in advance of the workshop and students were required to come prepared to assess and identify areas which would not serve their hypothetical client. The three attorneys led the students through the fact pattern, discussing each consideration and why it might be objectionable.
The CBLI, partnering with Lewis & Clark’s Career Services and the Business Law Society student organization, also hosted remote “Careers in Business Law” sessions. The most recent featured three CBLI Board Members, Zapier’s GC Suk Kim, Facet Legal’s Business & IP Attorney Tricia Juettemeyer, and Lattic’s VP of Legal (and Founder/Partner of Jibe Law) Robert Scott. Each spoke on their personal career trajectories, discussed matters pertaining to employment in business law, and answered student questions. Student participants rated the event highly, and communicated its value in content and speaker perspective.
Aside from similar roundtable discussions, in previous years, the CBLI offered workshops on packaging business deals from the legal perspective, international business and legal careers related to that area, and predicting trends business benefitting attorneys.
Richard Adams, Assistant Director of the CBLI, promised that more workshops will take place in the near future, with the next one currently scheduled to explore how business can thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic or other market uncertainties. “We have found that these workshops are invaluable both educationally and professionally,” Adams noted. “They benefit Portland-area business law attorneys nearly as much as they do our students.”
To learn more about the CBLI and upcoming programming, click here.
