Course | Columbia Law School

The Art of the Deal Workshop, part of the Charles E. Gerber Transactional Studies Program, explores the lawyer's role in structuring and implementing business transactions to create value, manage business risk, and promote client interests in a complex legal and regulatory environment. Building on principles explored in the Deals course, workshop participants are asked to engage in negotiation and drafting exercises that put the theory to the test. We draw on modern negotiation theory to explore the tension between value creation and value division and to examine different methods of negotiation and persuasion. The objective is to improve our ability to identify and effectively address recurring problems in deal structuring and negotiations. Significant attention is paid to all aspects of the writing process, including drafting term sheets,working with forms, writing emails and formal and informal memoranda for clients, and drafting contract language, as well as structuring and negotiating business transactions. Experienced corporate lawyers participate in some of the classes to add additional perspectives to the course.

One section of this workshop, The Art of the Deal and Transactional Legal Strategies, explores the lawyer's role in structuring and implementing business deals to create value, manage business risks, and promote client interests in a complex legal and regulatory environment.

Another section, The Art of the Deal in Mergers and Acquisitions, focuses on transactions in the field of mergers and acquisitions and includes a variety of public company and private deals. This section is taught by two partners from the firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

Since instructors vary in their approach and focus to this course, students are advised to review all sections and the range of topics offered.