The New Reality of Business for Lawyers

Few of us will have a Microsoft as a client. However, in an era of rapid technological and cultural change, many of us could assist the next Google. Chances are, you will only realize such a rare opportunity if you understand the increasingly creative and entrepreneurial strategies and language of business. Clients seek attorneys who command expertise and are comfortably conversant in both languages. Capture this unique chance to broaden your skill set to win and serve clients in this changing world.

Since 1981, more jobs have been created — and more wealth generated in the developed world — by emerging new companies than was generated by all the companies that constituted the Fortune 100 a century ago. Corporate culture has changed and business has been transformed. Effective legal counsel has also been radically altered by the changing types and characteristics of the clients we serve as well as their needs, expectations and demands. The New Reality of Business provides indispensable and practical insight into those areas of business that are critical to furthering your understanding and appreciation of the needs of your important current and prospective clients.

Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to discover:

• basic modern business concepts that have changed the face of corporate America;
• financial techniques for evaluating business success and failure, including a review of accounting and financial concepts;
• new business models and contemporary strategies in business that are transformational; and
• practical perspectives on trends and business developments, which will alter American business and legal practice.

Program Outline & Schedule (6 hours)

8:30 – 10:00 am

Key Business Concepts and Introduction to Company Case Study

• Introduction to Accounting
  - GAAP; Entity; Cash vs. Accrual; Transaction Definition & Objectivity; Conservatism & Historical Costs; Consistency; and Materiality
• Advanced Accounting Principles
  - Statement of Cash Flows; Depreciation; and Audit Letters

10:00 – 10:15 am
Break

10:15 – 11:45 am

Financial Statement Analysis

• Relevant Ratios
• Short-term Liquidity
• Activity Relationships
• Capital Structure
• Profitability & Operational Efficiency

Introduction to Corporate Finance

• Four Aspects to Corporate Finance: Investment, Expected Value, Timing, and Risk
• Present Value
• Four Key Financial Concepts: Rate of Return; Present Value Formula; Future Value Formula; and Perpetuity Formula

Advanced Topics in Corporate Finance

• Risk and Return and the CAPM
• Efficient Capital Markets Hypothesis
• Capital Structure Policy
• Legal Analysis of a Private Equity Transaction

11:45 – 1:00 pm
Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 pm

Marketing

• Aftermarket
• Cannibalization
• Channels of Distribution
• Cross-Selling
• Pareto’s Rule

Marketing Strategy

• Four Ps
• Consumer Analysis
• Market Analysis

Marketing Case Study

• The Business and Legal Issues Surrounding a New Credit Card Introduction

2:30 – 2:45 pm
Break

2:45 – 4:15 pm

Operational Concepts and Management Strategy

• F-E-D
• TQM
• Reengineering
• Outsourcing
• Mass Customization

Strategy Case Study

• Five Forces Analysis of Wal-Mart with a Consideration of the Business and Legal Issues Faced by the World’s Largest Retailer Future of Business

4:15 pm
Adjourn