Law School For Everyone: Corporate Law

by George S. Geis (speaker)

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.

12 Lectures - Average 29 minutes each

1 Questions and Conflicts in Corporate Law
2 Corporations and Their Agents
3 Things Corporations Can and Cannot Do
4 Boards of Directors and the Duty of Care
5 Business Opportunities and the Duty of Loyalty
6 Executive Pay and the Duty of Good Faith
7 Shareholder Lawsuits: Goals and Limitations
8 Securities Regulation and Fraud
9 Insider Trading Laws and Their Complexities
10 Corporate Control Battles and the Law
11 Corporate Law of Mergers and Acquisitions
12 Hostile Takeovers, Defenses, and the Future

Genres: Law, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Business

6 pages, Audible Audio

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good basic course on the fundamentals of corporate law. It helps the listener understand issues that are common in corporate law and the range of ethics lawsuits that arise, e.g. when or if officers were acting in the best interests of the company; whether violations of duty of care or duty of loyalty occurred; how/why companies determine their incorporation structure, and how M&A transactions can be structured and play out. Much of the case law was directly relatable to my past experience working in investment banking and corporate finance.

I appreciated the many case law examples used to illustrate the lecturer's points. Another bonus of this course is that it was published in October 2020 so the information is quite current (Sept 2021). I plan to listen to the Law School for Everyone: Contracts course next as it seems like a natural progression.

[Lena Yampolsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very basic, "Corporate Law 101" book, written in plain English. It's short and well organized, providing basic terms and concepts of corporate law. I think it could be most useful for people who already work in corporations in some capacity and need to know the basic terms, to be able to speak to the lawyers in the same language (ok, some semblance of common :-)). It could also be useful for those considering law school, as it gives a very basic idea of what the law classes look and sound like. For those who wants to go deeper, there are a few pages of suggested reading. I am not curious enough at this stage, but I would be reading more books from these series.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I listened to "Law School for Everyone: Contracts" first because it overlaps somewhat with this course on corporate law. I was especially interested in how shareholders could sue their own company but the board of directors (the people that would essentially be sued) could decide not to go ahead with the law suit. It seems like a loophole in the law, but plugging it up would only make things worse, having a corporation being forced to go through law suit after law suit until the corporation was whittled down to nothing.

I might listen to the audio course again.

[Manli Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very engaging and informative!

[Emma Pontzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Business and law together. What could be more fun.