Business Law Minor

The business law minor is available to undergraduate degree-seeking students at the University of Minnesota. The minor provides an opportunity for students to explore issues and concepts at the intersection of law and business. Legal regulation of firms and markets is pervasive. Students interested in a career in business should understand how law structures business entities and the environments in which they operate, and how law both enables and constrains innovation. Students will learn analytical techniques that will be helpful in business settings, and that can prepare them for further study in a law school, an MBA program, or other graduate program.

Among the topics that students can explore through the minor are: the formation and regulation of business entities, the challenges of operating in a regulated market, rules applicable to fields in which many students will work (e.g., insurance, banking, consumer services, and manufacturing), and the intricacies of creating and managing intellectual property. Students who complete the minor will be in a better position to innovate; identify, define, and solve problems; and communicate effectively in interactions with lawyers as they navigate through regulatory requirements all businesses inevitably confront. The minor thus provides a portal to new ways of thinking and new forms of knowledge.

Required and elective courses in the minor are offered through the Carlson School of Management and the Law School. Transfer course substitutions may be considered for business designated courses (FINA, MGMT, BLAW). No substitutions will be made for LAW designated courses and no more than 2 courses may be transferred into the minor.

All advising is through the Undergraduate Program Office in the Carlson School of Management, room 2-190 Hanson Hall (lawminor@umn.edu; 612-624-3313). Undergraduates enrolled in graduate-level courses will be graded separately from graduate students.