The Role of Law in Business Education

Abstract

One of the first things we teach first-year students in their introductory law and ethics course at Bentley University is that they will use business law throughout their careers, even if they never go to law school or interact with an actual lawyer. Business law courses help students develop critical thinking skills in three equally important ways. These courses focus firstly on teaching students the substantive legal basics of law that inform every aspect and stage of industry. By understanding the legal principles that determine, for example, whether a company can stop others from copying its products, whether its contracts are enforceable, and whether it can hire only male executives, business students learn how to identify and head off potential legal problems. In doing so, these students get a competitive edge over students who have only a vague idea of how law works. As a result, they are more valuable to and valued by their employers.KeywordsBusiness EthicSmall BusinessLegal IssueBusiness StudentBusiness LeaderThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.