Cardozo is the ideal place to study corporate, securities, and commercial law, offering a comprehensive curriculum taught by professors who are recognized experts in their fields. Core courses familiarize students with the fundamental concepts and theories of corporate law, and upper-level courses focus on advanced topics and specific practice areas. In addition, special courses equip students with the skills and tools they will need in corporate practice, whether as transactional lawyers or litigators.

Opportunities for professional development and training outside the classroom abound. Cardozo’s location in New York City, the world’s leading financial and commercial center, means that students have plentiful internship and externship opportunities, including a program that places them in the legal offices of leading corporations. Cardozo also offers clinics that expose students to live clients, including the Securities Arbitration Clinic, the Tech Startup Clinic and The Indie Film Clinic. In addition, a steady stream of outside speakers, special guests and panels—many under the auspices of the Heyman Center— provides information and insight about current legal issues and corporate practice. The Heyman Center focuses attention on corporate, compliance, and securities law issues and on a broad range of other corporate law-related topics by frequently sponsoring and organizing public events and lectures by prominent law and business figures and leading legal scholars.

Cardozo faculty and research affiliates of the Heyman Center write on a wide range of topics including cross-border securities offerings, derivatives regulation, corporate taxation, executive compensation, clearance and settlement regulation, corporate social responsibility, and the interests of non-stockholder constituencies. In addition, the Heyman Center supports research in environmental law, financial institutions, antitrust, mass tort litigation, alternative dispute resolution (including business and securities arbitration), employment law, international and comparative business, investment and trade, and commercial law.

Students become involved in the Heyman Center by participating in the programs organized by the center and working with faculty members on student and faculty research projects. Through the Heyman Center, Cardozo students learn not only about corporate and securities law but also the financial, business, and regulatory contexts in which the law plays a part.

The Intensive Transactional Lawyering Program (ITRANS) is part of Cardozo’s practical skills curriculum for students planning to focus on transactional practice. In this 2-week immersion course held in January, students gain essential skills needed for effective client representation in doing deals. Through a deal simulation, students learn contract drafting, client consultation, matter management and negotiation through interactive workshops and guided practice sessions designed to give them opportunities to develop their skills. The course ends with a final deal negotiation. Students are taught by Cardozo full-time and adjunct faculty, along with respected lawyers in transactional practice, who provide feedback throughout the program and critique the final negotiation.

This program facilitates students working with in-house corporate counsel during the academic year. Heyman/ACCA students enjoy a unique perspective on the legal structure of the corporation and the role of corporate counsel.

Some of the companies Heyman/ACCA students have worked at over the last few years include:

• Atlantic Records
• Bank of China
• Burberry
• CBS
• Chanel
• DC Comics
• Estee Lauder
• Gucci America
• Island Def Jam
• Jefferies
• JPMorgan Chase
• Kate Spade
• Morgan Stanley
• MTV/VH1
• NBC
• SONY Music
• Stuart Weitzman
• Viacom

In recent years, many large corporations, particularly in the banking and financial services sector, have dramatically expanded their corporate compliance departments. This has created attractive career opportunities for recent law school graduates interested in corporate and business law and regulation. Compliance officers are a corporation’s first line of defense against regulatory problems and allegations of wrongdoing.  Compliance officers use their legal, business and counseling expertise to advise corporate executives on how to comply with the very complex regulatory environment in which modern businesses are conducted.  They also prevent potential misconduct and enforce the corporations’ own standards of legal and ethical conduct.   Compliance work can combine the intellectual challenge of solving complex legal problems, the satisfaction of preventing potential corporate misconduct and the security of working in a large organization with good opportunities for advancement. 

To help students take advantage of these emerging opportunities, Cardozo has recently created a specialized concentration in compliance and risk management. This program is designed to teach students the substantive laws, rules and standards applicable to large business corporations, and particularly financial institutions, as well as the internal controls and governance structures by which potentially harmful conduct can be monitored and risks assessed and managed.  The concentration provides in-depth instruction in such critical areas as Securities Regulation, Investor Protection, Business Ethics, Fiduciary Duties, Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, and other state and federal regulations applicable to financial institutions.

The program also includes, through its sponsorship by Cardozo’s Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance, many special events and opportunities to hear from major business leaders, corporate counsels, and government officials in specific areas of compliance. In recent years, the Heyman Center has sponsored many programs designed to be of interest to those working or planning to work in the compliance field.

Another important part of the program is the unique opportunities for internships and externships. Cardozo has partnered with major financial institutions and regulatory agencies in a variety of on-site programs designed to give our students hands-on experience and practical insights into the nature of compliance work.  These partners include JP Morgan Chase; The Securities and Exchange Commission; The Commodity, Futures Trading Commission; the Financial Industry Regulatory; New York Department of Financial Services; and New York Office of Attorney General Authority.

Our aim is to help our students prepare for work in a corporate environment equipped not only with the substantive sophisticated knowledge on compliance but also with a set of meaningful connections, relationships and mentorships with alumni in corporate organizations, who are eager to support the growth and success of our students.