Westbrook and Boyack Reveal What Business Lawyers Do

Professors Amy Westbrook and Andrea Boyack, Directors of Washburn Law's Business and Transactional Law Center, presented the "What Do Business Lawyers Really Do?" Lunch and Learn on January 25, 2016. During their presentation to Washburn Law students, Professor Westbrook and Professor Boyack explained the various aspects of a Business Transactional Law practice and how lawyers involved in business and transactional law work in various capacities. Transactional lawyers essentially play three roles when representing their client in a deal: they engineer and architect the layout of the deal; they conduct the operations of the deal; and they look out for any potential risk in the future. They achieve various goals and maintain risk management. Transactional lawyers represent a variety of entitles, such as LLCs and non-profit organizations, they form and create entities, aid in the ordinary course of business of those entities as well as assist entities in larger, more unusual transactions, for example a merger or acquisitions or a significant financing. Transactional Lawyers work in an array of settings from private practice, to government jobs, both state or federal level, for example as bank examiners, revenue departments, banking facilities, and city government. Transactional attorneys can go into business directly or serve as in-house counsel, employed by the business itself. One area of rapidly growing transactional opportunity is compliance work. Professors Westbrook and Boyack encouraged students to take courses, pursue the Business and Transactional Law Certificate, obtain practice experience, and learn from people within the field in order to gain a full grasp of business and transactional law.