Mergers and Acquisitions Workshop: Boardroom Strategies and Deal Tactics

LAW 2185 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Prerequisite: Open to JD/MBA students, LLMs with prior or concurrent completion of Corporations, and upper-level JD students with prior completion of Corporations or permission to waive the requisite.

Exam Type: In Class

Successful M&A lawyers (and bankers) provide leadership and judgment in the boardroom and tactical execution at the negotiating table. Taught by two Mergers & Acquisitions partners at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, this workshop is intended to give students exposure to both the macro strategic issues faced by directors in M&A situations (buy-side and sell-side; hostile, friendly and crisis) as well as the tactical issues involved in negotiating acquisition agreements and other transaction documents. The workshop is based around case studies of several real transactions or strategic situations, and makes use of real transaction documents.  Students will be expected to make presentations and participate in class discussions, and there will be at least two mock-strategy, drafting and/or negotiating exercises.

Some sessions may feature guest speakers who have been involved in recent deals.

Cross-Registration: Business school students are very much welcome to cross-register into this course (and have done well in this course in the past), and spaces have been reserved for you. Business School students need not have taken Corporations; students cross-registering from other parts of Harvard should seek permission from Professors Gordon and Lu.

Note: This course will meet on a condensed schedule on Monday and Tuesday afternoons over the first seven weeks of the term, from September 8, 2026 to October 23, 2026. Please note there is no class on Tuesday, October 20 and the final class meeting will take place on Friday, October 23 during the 3:45p-5:45p time block.