Law School for Everyone: Corporate Law

By: George S. Geis, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Professor George S. Geis

Who is empowered to make and execute corporate decisions? Is it stockholders who have the final say, or a board of directors? What happens during a corporate merger or hostile takeover? What legal rules are in place to ensure corporations behave ethically?

These 12 lectures answer these and other questions about a high-stakes, ever-evolving area of the American legal system. Recreating a traditional law school course in corporate law, Professor Geis guides you through the foundations of corporate law, the history of corporations, the problems that can plague corporations (including insider trading and bribery), and more.

In clear, accessible language, Law School for Everyone: Corporate Law introduces you to the inner workings of corporate law, from the fundamental structure of a typical corporation to the high-stakes drama of battles over corporate control. They also explore fascinating, landmark court cases that have shaped the way corporate lawyers think about their field, transforming "legalese" into easily understandable stories that, woven together, create a grand narrative of the evolution of corporate law from its beginnings right up to the challenges of the present day.

This lecture series is a fascinating look at how corporate law works, where it works well, and where it may still fall short of its goals.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLC

No longer a dry subject!

I went into this audiobook thinking corporate law would be a droll, boring subject that would put me to sleep. Not at all! The lecture brings out insightful and interesting stories of corporate disputes. His sense of humor was well appreciated, too.

A great addition to the Law School for Everyone series

I have read a few titles in this series, and they are all worthwhile listens. Some cover too much ground in one “course”, and it becomes overwhelming and intimidating. This one stuck pretty close to the topic and was very focused.

If you haven’t learned anything about contract law before, I think some of the connections that he implies wouldn’t be obvious. However, the material is still completely comprehensible without it. If you later learn a bit about contract law, coming back to review this again would give new insights.

Similarly with the matter of state vs federal laws, courts and jurisdiction rules. You don’t have to know about it, because he provides the necessary minimum context, but after listening to a course about it, there is more to be gained by a re-listen.

10/10 would recommend.

FWIW, I listened at 1.25 speed because it was the slowest that didn’t drive me crazy because he’s a semi-slow speaker. It was totally clear and paced well at that speed.

Well Balanced Introduction

This is a very useful piece of literature for a non USA lawyer to have a pragmatic comparitive view on what the thinking of the lawyers and jurists are in the US.

I would recommend this program.

good summary

it's a good summary of the key concepts of corporate law which is useful for general knowledge for management and board of directors

Great Information

whether you just enjoy loving law, wanting to open a business, or wanting to know more of how corporations work. GREAT Resource to learn from!

Gripping

although law is dry, this professor made it interesting, yet with attention to nuance. Special thanks for describing why why it matters.

It's a winner

This professor does a great job of picking the important topics and good examples, and fitting this in a compact audio presentation. (I'm in my 35th year of teaching this at college level.) His presentation skills are quite good as well, though his voice goes into an odd squeaky little arch when he emphasizes things, once every couple minutes, no big deal. (Maybe this helps keep college fresh-persons awake.) He is very good with slipping in related legal background concepts whenever needed to give full comprehension of the corporate law point. The examples are picked from some timeless, landmark ones, but can be as fresh as Elon Musk's recent $420 "funding secured" twitter fiasco. The whole package comes together very well.

Great for Non-Lawyers

Have you ever watched a legal or corporate drama and wondered, what's going on? This course provides a useful foundation for understanding why corporations behave the way that they do. I am not a lawyer or legally trained, but I found the lectures easy to understand. The professor was animated, engaging, and gave great examples to illustrate his points.

Take this course if you work in a corporation

I am not a lawyer and don't play one on TV.

The Law School for Everyone courses vary from entertaining to extremely dry and hard to listen to. This one is on the fun side to listen to. They don't layer the course with contradictory information and make it confusing. This is mostly straight forwards information you should have picked up over the years. Don't do insider trading. If it looks wrong, it probably is. How to deal with a corporate take over, if you are protecting the share holders, then your methods are probably sound. If you are protecting your job as a board of directors, you are probably wrong.

Why do I say this is the one to take? Because this is the material you are likely to encounter in real life. When someone tells you my company is doing good, can you trade on the stock? What if they tell you they are looking for a job because there is corruption in the company? What if they tell you they are looking to take over a corp? What if Elon makes a joke when high?

What it doesn't cover and probably should? How can a certain democrat politician trade stocks using classified information and not go to jail? Is the law special for politicians? I think it is, if you are and insider.

Awesome content and delivery

True to the course’s title, this course is indeed for everyone. As a layman, I find the content interesting, accessible yet not without the due seriousness deserved of the subject. Of course I’m aware that the field of corporate law is much more than what a law professor could introduce in a matter of hours, but this is a good gateway to further study. The professor did a wonderful job of briefing the cases with accuracy, focus, and a lot of fun. The experience is like hearing a stranger in a bar telling fascinating stories, and this is probably what draws me into law in the first place: law is comprised of people and their interactions with one another. As a side benefit, knowing more about stuff like insider trading and M&A, I find my investment decisions much more prudent and informed than before. Integrating legal matter into my judgement helps me avoid being caught in the teeth of stock market.