Spring 2025
Professor(s):
Brandie Holmes (ADJUNCT)
Credits: 3
Course Areas: Business and Commercial Law
Time: 10:30a-12:00p TTH Location: 207
Course Outline: This course will give students insight into the complex function of in-house counsel and provide the basic tools needed to succeed in an in-house role. The course will focus on developing skills in risk management, negotiation, corporate communications, commercial contracts, compliance, ethics, litigation management at all stages, advising and counseling on common employment issues, and gaining the trust of your organization. Students will also see how basic legal principles regarding attorney-client privilege, contract formation, and corporate governance are used on an everyday basis. Course instruction will take students through their first year as in-house counsel at MiniPrivateCo and MegaPublicCo using case studies based on real-world examples. This course will benefit all students interested in a legal career advising businesses, whether it be as in-house or outside counsel.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid-term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
Quota=15.
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 5/1/2025 9-12pm
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: simulation
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Conditional Availability (not for required credits)
Course Materials
Book(s) Required
Course Materials: Book Required
Lovett, Steven L. Corporate Counsel Guides: Practice Basics. American Bar Association, 2013. ISBN: 9781614388289 - OPTIONAL
Miller, Sterling L. Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel. American Bar Association, 2017.* ISBN: 9781634257930 - REQUIRED
Miller, Sterling L. Ten More Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel. American Bar Association, 2019.* ISBN: 9781641055277 - REQUIRED
* The contents of these books can also be found online at www.sterlingmiller2014.wordpress.com and do not have to be purchased.
Other: Other documents and materials will be distributed throughout the semester.
