Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: Take-home Exam (more details will be posted at a later date)

Over 50 trillion dollars are invested in US funds, including both registered funds (e.g., mutual funds) and private funds (e.g., private equity, venture capital and hedge funds). As a result, nearly every major law firm has a significant funds practice (fund formation and offering, fund regulation and/or fund-related government enforcement defense and litigation), and fund managers have large in-house legal groups. In this class, through discussions of key legal concepts and activities replicating the actual tasks that you will be asked to perform as a law firm associate or in-house counsel, we will cover the areas of law needed for you to hit the ground running on day one. Topics include the different types of funds (both registered and private); how funds are organized, offered and operated; how funds and their managers are regulated (including under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933); and how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversees funds and their managers. In the final class, students will roleplay an interview of a fund manager during an SEC exam (assisting the manager in preparing for and responding to SEC questions and/or taking the role of an SEC examiner leading the interview).

Grading will be based upon a take-home exam, as well as a substantial class participation component.