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Area of law

Business & Corporate Law

Forming, financing, governing and advising companies.

Find schools with programsAll areas of law

What this area covers

Business lawyers help organizations come into being, raise money, make decisions and stay within the rules that govern them. The work is largely advisory and transactional: structuring an entity, negotiating an agreement, or guiding a board through a significant decision.

Also called: Business Law, Business Organizations, Company Law, Corporate Law.

Typical legal work

  • Choosing and forming business entities
  • Drafting and negotiating commercial agreements
  • Advising boards and officers on their duties
  • Managing legal risk across a company's operations

Common subareas

Corporate GovernanceHow companies are directed, overseen and held accountable.Mergers & AcquisitionsBuying, selling and combining companies.Nonprofit & Tax-Exempt OrganizationsForming and advising charities, foundations and other nonprofits.Securities & Capital MarketsRaising capital and the rules for selling and trading investments.Venture & Startup LawLegal work for new companies and the investors who fund them.

Where lawyers work

  • Law firms of every size
  • In-house legal departments
  • Startups and venture-backed companies

A setting is where you work; an area is what the work is about. The same area is practised in very different settings.

Schools with verified programs

A school is listed here only when its own website names a concentration, certificate, clinic, center or field placement in Business & Corporate Law or one of its subareas. Schools are in alphabetical order. The list is not a ranking, and a school that is absent may still teach the subject.

74 schools · 13 concentrations and specializations · 16 certificates · 56 clinics · 32 centers and institutes · 2 externships and field placements

Filter these schools in the directory

Program types counted as evidence: clinics, certificates, concentrations and specializations, centers and institutes, externships and field placements. Joint degrees and advanced degrees are described under Degrees & program types.

Sources

These references informed what the area covers. The description above is PreLaw Advisor’s own and does not reproduce their text.

  1. 1.American Bar Association. Business Law Section (opens in a new tab) Retrieved Sep 2026.
  2. 2.Law School Admission Council. Fields of Law (opens in a new tab) Retrieved Sep 2026.

Description reviewed Sep 2026. Each school program links to the page it was verified against.