Structuring Business Agreements for Success (edX)

Have you ever needed to lease a car, start a small business, or simply rent an apartment?

Deals are a part of everyday life. Understanding how to construct an effective agreement is critical, and yet, many people are unfamiliar with how an effective agreement is structured and what they can do to support a successful deal. This course features numerous examples of situations in which you may need to make a deal and provides practical information and resources to help you construct successful agreements.
In this course, we have brought three Cornell Law professors and several practicing attorneys together to provide you with a select range of topics that will serve as a foundation for structuring successful contracts. Together, they possess a wealth of knowledge and experience as legal scholars and distinguished law practitioners.
You will begin with a brief overview of the framework within which laws and contracts are enforced.. You will then focus on various kinds of contract provisions that enable and support successful agreements. You will gain greater familiarity with legal terms and concepts involved in deals, making collaboration with legal counsel more effective.

What you'll learn

• Recognize the sources of law that govern businesses and society, and consider how lawyers construct legal arguments
• Analyze the structure of contracts and embrace basic contract principles and guidelines
• Evaluate how contract provisions address information gaps and assign risk in an agreement
• Prepare for effective use of representations, warranties and covenants in contracts
• Assess the benefits and challenges associated with post-closing price adjustments, in particular indemnification and earn-outs