Translating Law into Business...and Business Into Law

• Strengthen the attorney-client relationship by speaking the same language, whether the attorney
  is outside or in-house counsel
• Help clients know when to ask for legal advice
• Satisfy CLE requirements
• Associates and new partners learn to:
• evaluate the quality of potential clients
• build basic knowledge to increase available client time
• help the firm make its business decisions efficiently and amicably
• In-house attorneys learn to:
• ground their legal advice in their company’s strategy
• build basic knowledge to increase their productivity
• work with outside counsel

Are you a law firm looking to attract and retain talented associates or develop future partners and practice leaders? Are you a general counsel who wants to provide relevant and immediately applicable professional development opportunities for your staff? Are you a legal professional eager to expand your knowledge to better advise clients with business challenges that raise legal issues? The Certificate in Business Lawyering (CBL) program offers a structured approach to business that provides the tools, resources and concepts to increase an attorney’s value and productivity. Become a better lawyer by thinking about business issues the way business decision-makers think about them. Prepare to be a partner or general counsel by building your expertise in the business side of your profession.

Who Should Attend?

• Associates and new partners, both transactional and litigators, who work under the supervision of a senior partner for clients whose business decisions raise legal issues. This includes attorneys working in trust and estates, real estate, land use, environmental law, etc. The program can also be valuable for current or candidates to become head of a practice area within the firm.

• In-house attorneys without significant prior experience in business who are relatively new to the company and who are learning to apply their legal expertise in service of targeted business objectives.

The Certificate in Business Lawyering consists of eight, day-long sessions delivered over eight months where participants can earn a certificate of completion and up to 55 CLEs (including ethics and practical skills CLE's that can be converted to General CLE's; WBA CLE’s subject to approval). The program repeats annually. If the organization purchases a seat in the program and selects a participant, another participant may substitute for individual sessions should work demands require a participant to complete the program in the next cycle. Each class session presents a unique topic and can be completed in any order. The organization may also purchase seats in selected sessions.

Register Online

Go to Program Schedule Page

Program Location

Willamette University Portland Center - 1120 NW Couch Street, Suite 450, Portland, Oregon [MAP]