When do transactional business lawyers add value to projects?  The literature tells us that transactional business lawyers can help correct information asymmetries and facilitate regulatory arbitrage through their knowledge and skills.  That all seems right.  But how can that message and other conceptions of value be conveyed to first-year law students in less than two hours in a mandatory, S/NC course (i.e., a course in which some–maybe many–of the students do not really want to be there and believe they have better uses for their time)?  Welcome to my world, for today . . . .

Steve Bainbridge has a nice blog post relating to transactional business lawyers that our students are required to read before class.  (Thanks, Steve!)  We will discuss the absence of transactional business lawyers in popular culture, elucidate the value propositions they represent in real life, and work through some business transactional scenarios that illustrate the value (or lack thereof) of involving lawyers in the matter.  I have worked out the class plan with my co-instructor (who cannot be there for this class meeting).  But I am looking for more.

What, in your view, must I ensure that I cover–and how?  Are there videos or charts that you recommend I "check out" for potential presentation to the class?  I teach the main session on this topic tomorrow afternoon (and I had hoped to post this yesterday . . .), but I can always come back to this topic in a future class meeting, if I play my cards right.  Let me know if you have ideas or views.