Course Description

This advanced course seeks to equip the student with an in-depth understanding of business law specifically as it relates to the legal issues that are encountered by certified public accountants. This course is designed to further the student’s knowledge and understanding of the law in such areas as the Uniform Commercial Code, contracts, securities regulation, organizational structure and formation, ethics, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, property, and insurance, and other forms of government regulation of business.

Rationale

The purpose of this course is to expose the student to a select group of legal issues faced by the typical accounting professional in today’s business environment. This course is not designed to substitute for a law degree or for the advice of an attorney. Rather, this course should assist the student in identifying the legal issues associated with business operations and impart to the student the legal knowledge necessary to recognize legal pitfalls. The student should then be able to respond by seeking legal counsel by going beyond the initial understanding of business law gained in an undergraduate course to focus on more advanced studies in those areas that are especially relevant to an accounting professional.

Measurable Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Apply business law concepts in evaluating the economic substance of client transactions, including purchase agreements, loans, promissory notes, sales contracts, leases, side agreements, commitments, contingencies, and assumptions of liabilities.
2. Evaluate the legal structure of an entity to determine the implications of applicable laws and regulations on how a business is organized, governed, and operated.
3. Integrate a biblical worldview within the context of business law.

Course Assignment

After reading the Syllabus at Liberty University, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The student is required to post a thread in response to the provided prompt of at least 500 words in length. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads of at least 200 words in length. Each thread should be supported with 2 citations and each reply with at least 1 citation in the current APA format. Acceptable sources include course textbooks, the Bible, and scholarly academic, legal, or biblical sources.

Each Research Project will be 7–10 pages in length, include 8 scholarly and academic sources, and adhere to current APA formatting.

The student will conduct an interview with an accounting professional who is not a lawyer. The student will then write a 1,000-word essay describing the interview and what was learned through the interview. The student must post his/her essay in a Discussion and then reply to 2 other classmates’ essays in at least 200 words each.

Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 20 multiple-choice and true/false questions, and have a 40-minute time limit.