MSc in Business for Lawyers

This course is preparatory; designed to help students familiarize themselves with aspects of mathematics necessary for the comprehension of modern MBA courses. It covers three main areas: Firstly, the basics of derivatives and optimization of differentiable functions, mainly with a view to assist the student with applications to follow in the economics courses. Secondly, the basics of probability, random variables, and their distributions in order to provide a working background for statistical and financial applications. Finally, the basics of descriptive statistics, that will assist the students in comprehending statistical reports. Inferential statistics will be mentioned, albeit briefly, in order for the student to connect the basic notions discussed in probability and descriptive statistics with quantitative research methods that will be covered later on in the programme.

This course concentrates on the economic foundations of management by developing tools to analyze key issues of the industry (microeconomics) and general economic environment (macroeconomics) of a company. The course employs classical economic as well as game theoretic methodology to study the operation of markets in allocating resources as well as the markets’ impact on managerial decision making. Topics under consideration include the consumer and business behavior, their interacting in competitive and non-competitive markets and the impact of market structure in the company’s managerial decision making and strategies. Furthermore, the course develops thinking frameworks and methods to help participants to accurately assess the macroeconomic environment within which businesses operate and also to identify channels through which this environment influences their managerial decision making.

The course explores the ‘art’ of financial accounting / financial reporting.  In particular, the goal of the course is to provide the knowledge and skills required for the understanding and use of financial accounting information for decision making.  Some of the topics covered during the course include: the role and importance of financial reporting, the role of the main players in the accounting communication process, including the management, auditors and stakeholders, the effects of the use of different accounting methods and estimates on the financial statements and the subsequent impact on decision making, ways of analysing, interpreting and evaluating financial statements.  During the course, extensive reference is made to the annual reports of various companies, as well as to accounting scandals (e.g. ENRON), for the facilitation of knowledge and understanding.

The course relies and follows up on "Financial Accounting for Lawyers I" and deals with practical examples of financial accounting and financial statements preparation and analysis (journal entries, ledgers, double-entry bookkeeping, financial statements preparation, ratio analysis etc.).

This core course introduces the basic concepts and analytical tools used in analysing the major investing and financing decisions of a firm. Students are presented with the major tasks of a financial manager, whose decisions contribute toward the accomplishment of the firm’s objectives. The course introduces the major issues in the theory and policy of finance. Emphasis is given in the following areas: Objectives of the Financial Manager; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Planning; Financial Markets; Valuation of Corporate Securities; Financing Decisions and Cost of Capital; Derivatives; Analysis of Financial Information for Management Decisions; Corporate Governance; Long term Investing Decisions.

Legal Aspects of International Finance examines the legal issues arising from the operations of the largest commercial banks, merchant banks and investment funds on the international banking and capital markets. In so doing, it considers the detailed structure and content of the main international financial transactions and contracts and negotiation skills involved. Some of these transactions include syndicated lending, Eurobonds, securitization, etc. Although primarily based on an examination and analysis of current international principles, reference is made to relevant laws, including the EU, the US and other national systems. The course has a strong comparative and international law content as well as being based on current market and practitioner insight and best practice in each area.

The course will introduce the major issues in the theory and policy of finance. Emphasis will be given in the following areas: objectives of the financial manager, financial statement analysis, financial planning, financial markets, investment banking, valuation of corporate securities and the cost of capital. Finally, it examines long-term investing decisions (capital budgeting and Mergers & Acquisitions).

The objective of this Course will be the understanding and familiarization with EU and Greek Financial Services legislation through exploration of EC Directives and Greek Law. The envisaged workshop shall focus on a discussion of a number of issues currently debated on an EU-wide level such as, for instance,    Directive 2004/39/EC on markets in financial instruments (known as MiFID, the new Investment Services Directive) under implementation into Greek law until October 2006), in relation with Laws 2396/1996, 1806/1988 and 3152/2003, as well as the new expected legislation;   the new prospectus Directive 2003/71/EC, in relation with Law 3401/2005 and the level II measures;   the market abuse Directive 2003/6/EC, in relation with Law 3340/2005 and the level II measures (relevant Decisions of the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission);   the new Take Over bids Directive 2004/25, in relation with the new law, now under discussion in the Greek Parliament;   the new transparency directive 2004/109/EC, to be implemented into national legislation until January 2007;   the role and function of the privatised Athens Exchange and its competition with other regulated markets and multilateral trading facilities;   Directive 2001/24/EC on the reorganization and winding up of credit institutions and law 3458/2006;   the new Capital Requirements Directive and Basel II;   the new anti money-laundering legislation: Directive 2001/97/EC and Law 3424/2005;   the developments in the EU legislation regarding securities held with intermediaries (Project of the European Commission: EU Clearing & Settlement, Legal Certainty Group and Unidroit draft convention);   Financial Services Policy 2005-2010: Better regulation and better implementation the first evaluation of the Lamfalussy process. Students will receive the relevant EU and Greek legal documentation and case studies will be presented and discussed during the course.

The basic topics which the course will cover are the following:  - Basic forms of mergers and acquisitions; legal and regulatory framework;  - Factors to be taken into account when deciding which form a transaction should take;  - The transaction process – due diligence – sale and purchase agreement;  - Public offer rules - minority rights;  - Antitrust rules.

Social and business interactions are strategic, in the sense that one party’s actions affect the other party and vice versa. One may choose to interact by reaching agreement with the other side or, simply, by seeking to impose one’s view based on commercial power or judicial intervention. This course seeks to study both types of interactions. Firstly, it begins with the analysis of Legal Strategy, that is: the legal interaction that seeks ‘the best possible’ outcome within the constraints of the law, by taking into account the interactivity between the parties and, occasionally, between the parties and the judicial system. It then proceeds to explore the fundamental ways agreement may be sought between the parties either alone (i.e., Negotiations) or in the presence and with the assistance of a third party facilitator (i.e., Mediation). This course concludes with the discussion of how, during litigation in particular, all these processes are potentially interwoven and interdependent. This course helps the students develop the strategic tools necessary in order to manage their clients’ conflicts (or transactions) most proficiently.

This elective course offers an insight into the legal aspects of various forms of intellectual property (IP) such as inventions, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, creative expressions, writings, trade secrets, artistic creations, etc. The course offers its participants the knowledge to protect the rights and the ownership of IP, throughout the development process of various intellectual products from conception, design, and creation, to distribution, marketing and commercial exploitation. The students of this course will be able to meet the challenges faced for IP in the light of the latest developments in science, production, marketing and information technology in a global, knowledge- intensive, business environment. This course is designed for those students who wish to work in organizations (private or public) for which IP is an important economic as well as strategic asset, requiring a special treatment and effective management.

The course will consider the application of EC competition law to the distribution of goods and services and in particular the issue of how competition law can affect the choice of the adequate distribution strategy by firms. Topics covered include the antitrust analysis of distribution practices such as resale price maintenance, territorial and customer restrictions, non-compete clauses, selective distribution, franchising, commercial agency agreements, category management, tying/bundling, exclusive dealing, price discrimination, refusal to supply and license as well as vertical mergers and acquisitions producing anticompetitive effects.

Understanding the ethical basis of human behaviour is of fundamental importance for building commitment to organizational goals and for imparting integrity and a sense of the common good in organizational members. The course examines a broad array of matters relating to ethics, including: individual and organizational obstacles to ethics; ethics information processing methods and judging theories; an action-learning framework for ethics leadership; adversarial win-lose ethics methods; integrative win-win ethics methods; dialogic transcendent ethics method; reflection and developing personal and contingency ethics leadership approaches; developing on ethics leadership action-learning plan. The course focuses also on sustainability, corporate social responsibility and corporate accountability with further emphasis placed on business strategies that aim to create long term value and a positive environmental, social and economic impact. Actionable knowledge is achieved by applying theory in real life situations through critical analysis and debating on prominent cases and in class discussions on current trends and developments on sustainable business activities.

The course will examine the issues arising from the structure of corporate income tax, and its relationship to the taxation of shareholders. Special emphasis will be given to cross border situations and the interaction between domestic legislation, Double Taxation Treaties, European Union legislation and the case law of the European Court of Justice.

The course will discuss how you can provide effective legal advice to corporations. We will examine what in-house counsel needs to do to establish the legal function as an influential business partner to the other corporate functions, manage the legal team and deal with financial and technological challenges.