Designed to complete a student’s formal study of transactional practice, the first capstone course was created and taught by Professor and Center Director David East in the spring of 1999, and at least one section of such a course has been taught every fall and spring semester since then. Currently there are three problem models, each created with help and advice from transactional attorneys, which take students through the structure and documentation of typical business transactions.
- Transaction Skills – Corporate was the first course created by Professor East and is taught every fall and spring semester as a simulation of a management leveraged buyout of a closely-held corporation. Students learn how such a transaction could be structured and then study and draft documents for a reverse triangular merger form of the transaction.
- Transaction Skills – Real Estate was first taught in the 2004-2005 academic year and has been taught every fall and spring semester since then as a simulated acquisition of a parcel of commercial real estate. It was created by Professor East in collaboration with Adjunct Professor Carl Moerer, who team taught the course in 2004 and 2005. Since 2006 the course has been taught by Adjunct Professor Allan Boss.
- Transaction Skills – International Business was created and first taught in the spring semester of 2006 by Professor Cherie Taylor and Adjunct Professor Irene Kosturakis using the course model developed by Professor East. The problem model is a simulated international joint venture between a Texas corporation and a foreign company and involves the licensing of intellectual property, manufacture of a product and an agreement to sell the product into the European Union common market.
Course coverage
All these problem models require students to master the structure of the transaction and understand how the transaction is financed with borrowed funds. Instead of a final exam students turn in notebooks containing annotated drafts of five or six key documents for the particular transaction they have studied. Each course also devotes two hours to a video presentation on possible conflicts of interest and related ethical issues frequently encountered in a transactional setting. All courses require students to prepare and submit an annotated third-party attorney opinion letter covering especially the financing aspects of the transaction.