I’m late ordering books for my spring class on private equity and venture capital, and am desperately trying to figure out if there might finally be a law school text on this topic. The constraints are the following.... below the fold. (ps. The advice folks gave me on my earlier question re law and econ for a first year course was very helpful, thanks.)
There are several excellent practicing lawyer books — Levin’s book, for example, but they are really only usable by lawyers with much experience and usually (eg Levin) partnership tax as a background, which is hardly any law students. In addition, I simply can’t ask students to pay $300 or so dollars for a book aimed usually at a practicing lawyer’s office library.
In the past, I have used Josh Lerner’s business school casebook, which I like except for that fact that it is not a law book, and contains very little law. So it is expensive but doesn’t get used for many of its key points in a law school class. And the law part gets cobbled together out of unpublished stuff I have around. I’d like to get away from this.
For some reason, I have this idea that someone finally came out with a law school textbook in this subject, but I can’t locate it online anywhere, so maybe I am mistaken. If anyone has any idea, I would be very grateful — if only to stop looking frantically and just cobble stuff together yet again.
Mark N. says:
This isn’t a law textbook either (sorry!), but Private Equity: History, Governance, and Operations, a finance textbook, has a good deal of law content, depending on what aspects of law you want to cover. It would probably be most useful if you’re wanting to cover governance (auditing, due diligence, internal controls, securities regulation, etc.). It seems more relevant than Lerner’s, anyway, although also more expensive and much lengthier.
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November 8, 2009, 10:50 pmKenneth Anderson says:
Mark N: thanks — it’s a great book but too expensive for my students alas.
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November 8, 2009, 11:10 pmA.S. says:
Not that I would likely have any advice on a potential textbook anyway, but it might help if you said something about what you plan to teach in the class — or perhaps link to a syllabus. I practice in the area (corporate partner at an AmLaw100 firm), and truly have no idea what a law school class would teach. I mean, if you are not going to teach things a practicing lawyer might want to learn — say, the ins and outs of drafting a Certificate of Designations for participating preferred stock or how a partnership agreement would provide for the carried interest — then what?
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PEInvestor says:
This was the book that was handed to me on my first day as a PE investor. But I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t know how relevant it would be for law students (or practicing lawyers).
http://www.kirkland.com/sitecontent.cfm?contentID=223&itemId=2226
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November 9, 2009, 4:47 amU of C 3L says:
Levin teaches the class at Chicago and he offers the set of books at a steep discount for the students in the course so you might want to reach out to him and see if he’d be willing to do the same for you. (I think the entire set is offered for ~$100)
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November 9, 2009, 7:06 amKenneth Anderson says:
Everyone — these are helpful thoughts, and I will try to get back to address some of the larger questions raised re what you try to teach in a basic level jd course and why. Thanks!
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November 9, 2009, 8:43 amTodd K says:
Yes I agree with PE investor get Levins book on Venture Capital.
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November 9, 2009, 8:47 amWCollins says:
I took a PE/VC seminar this past spring. The instructor was a corporate law partner and used a hodge-podge of materials. We read some Delaware opinions such as the Hexion case as well as selected chapters from Constance Bagley’s The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Business Law. We also did some assignments such as putting together a cap table and analyzing the practical effects of contractual provisions, i.e. to what extent the language in a pay-for-play provision was pro-investor or pro-company. We ended the semester by putting together a term sheet and writing a 25-pager on a topic we selected ourselves.
It was the instructor’s first time teaching the course, and I do not know what aspects he plans on changing. I do remember him lamenting the lack of a quality text book for the topic, though.
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November 9, 2009, 8:53 amCBiz says:
If you really are doing an introductory course, I’d second taking a look at Bagley & Dauchy.
I know Karl Lutz from K&E used to teach a series of hands-on PE/VC classes at Michigan using Levin and his own primary deal documents. You might reach out to him, if only to ask him to finally write a textbook/workbook combo.
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November 9, 2009, 2:50 pmSLS grad says:
Have you spoken to Joe Grundfest regarding his venture capital materials? He taught a great course.
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November 9, 2009, 6:00 pm