The aim of this course is to provide students with the skills and tools, as well as the critical mindset and methodology, to effectively negotiate and draft contracts in an international, cross-border scenario. At the end of the course, all students should be able to easily identify and use the sources of International Contract Law, and successfully draft and structure an international transaction that meets both parties’ requirements as well as the applicable rules and regulations.

This course is designed to provide students with the essential skills and competencies fundamental to the successful practice of European Union Law in any substantive area.

Today’s corporate lawyers need to be aware of the importance of dispute resolution in transactional practice. The course will cover the essentials of international dispute resolution for a transactional lawyer, as well as dispute resolution mechanisms from a corporate perspective: arbitration, litigation and mediation. Students will then discover the legal framework of each of these methods and in what ways corporate accounting impacts disputes and funding schemes. The class will learn how to plan dispute resolution in commercial and investment contracts and foreign investments, and how to draft basic considerations for dispute resolution clauses.

This course is devoted to the study of information privacy law in a global context. The class will begin by surveying privacy theories suitable to the contemporary challenges of data surveillance, tracking and the practices of targeted advertising and campaigning. The course then focuses specifically on the EU and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the global standard for data protection. Students will become familiarized with the EU data protection framework and will learn to compare them with equivalent frameworks from different jurisdictions, including those influenced by the GDPR, like the recent California Consumer Privacy Act.

The regulatory, practical and ethical foundations of international tax law serve as a framework for learning about both multinational corporations’ international tax planning strategies and the ways in which states seek to collect taxes at a time when international tax competition is becoming increasingly fierce. These issues are constantly evolving and being refined and must be complemented by the study of multilateral efforts to curb tax evasion, including the OECD/G20 BEPS project.

This course will help students understand how financial statements are created and how accounting decisions affect these statements, helping lawyers to make the most accurate decisions for their clients. Students will learn the theory behind using accounting as a tool for decision-making and problem-solving through analytical, creative and critical thinking.

During this optional course, students will focus on developing skills that allow them to write clear, concise, and effective legal documents. Students will learn to draft various legal texts, including memos and briefs, while mastering legal research techniques and citation formats.

This course provides an overview of the fundamental principles, structures, and functions of legal systems, mainly continental systems and common law. Students will explore the development, classification, and sources of law, together with the roles of key legal institutions. The course also examines the interaction between law and society and compares different legal traditions around the world.

This course intends to improve participants’ negotiating skills. Under the supervision of course instructors, students will work in teams on case studies. By the end of the course, participants will know how to prepare for negotiations, achieve goals, satisfy interests more effectively and ensure the enforceability of agreements.

This course develops practical skills for effective advocacy in the courtroom. Emphasis is placed on developing oral and written advocacy techniques and understanding procedural rules to competently represent clients in civil and criminal cases.

Students will obtain the practical skills needed for structuring and executing business transactions. Topics include contract drafting, negotiation techniques, due diligence, risk assessment, and deal structuring.

This course addresses the regulation of capital markets, with a focus on EU law with reference to US securities law. The cornerstones of the course are the prospectus, transparency and market abuse rules. It also tackles public and particularly private enforcement.

In this course, students are introduced to the concept of corporate governance and its key features and goals. It tackles the regulation and practice of actors in corporate governance, focusing mainly on shareholders and the board of directors, but also with reference to other bodies including gatekeepers like auditors, and their role in corporate governance.

The course studies the complexities of the main types of business deals such as Mergers & Acquisitions and corporate divestitures, together with the main steps to be followed in each of them.

The students will acquire a deep knowledge on matters that are relevant in the tax structuring on the acquisition of companies and on main Due Diligence aspects. The objective of this course is to develop a self-autonomy on the future development of this area of practice in their careers.

The course tackles the main issues related to international commercial arbitration, including the arbitration agreement, jurisdiction of arbitrators, conduct of the proceedings, the role of arbitral tribunals and national courts, and the challenge, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, combining theory and practice mainly from the perspective of the counsel’s strategy.

First-hand acquaintance with alternative resolution methods is becoming a must for any law practitioner in the field of business disputes. Through this course, students will receive high-quality, hands-on training in the field, becoming equipped to naturally incorporate learned tools and skills into their future practice.

This course provides an overview of the substantive and procedural aspects of international investment law and dispute resolution. With reference to positive and customary public international law, the ICSID Convention, the network of bilateral and multilateral investment agreements, and landmark arbitral awards, students will become acquainted with substantive standards of protection such as fair and equitable treatment, full protection and security, prohibition of undue expropriation, umbrella clauses and more, as well as issues from attribution to state defenses. They will also understand the complex issues at stake regarding jurisdiction, admissibility and procedure in the field.

This course addresses the main normative tools necessary to navigate the often-troubled waters of cross-border disputes. The class will learn to deal strategically with cross-border litigation, judicial cooperation, parallel arbitral, civil or criminal proceedings and international insolvency situations by applying international treaties—like the New York Convention, the Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention or the Hague Judgments Convention—and the considerable procedural acquis that the EU has developed in its quest to become a genuine area of freedom, security and justice.

Data protection and information privacy centers on how we, as individuals and organizations, distribute, manage, store, and secure the data we generate, use and collect. Special attention will be given to the Data Protection Act and to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), and how the international legal framework places clear responsibilities in connection to personal data.

This course offers a comprehensive examination of EU, international and comparative copyright law. The subject matter and scope of copyright protection, economic and moral rights, exceptions and limitations, as well as the notions of authorship and originality are among the topics covered in this course. In addition, the course reviews the history and theoretical justifications of copyright law, and the global conflicts and tensions in view of the technological revolution of the past decades. It also looks at copyright laws’ relevance in specific sectors, like education and access to knowledge, broadcasting and music, and the software industry. Finally, the course covers contemporary developments in the field, specifically how copyright laws apply to computer-generated experiences and creations, such as virtual, augmented reality and AI technologies.

Trademark Law is the third large pillar of Intellectual Property Law. This course focuses on trademark registration and the enforcement of the exclusive rights that trademark law affords. The course reviews the laws of a number of jurisdictions: the Spanish system, the route and requirements to acquire an EU trademark from the European Intellectual Property Organization (EUIPO), and the international system with particular emphasis on the Madrid System and Union, and the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks. In addition, the course provides an overview of trademark law in the US introducing the Lanham Act and focusing on trademark infringement and rules, and precedence against false advertising and unfair competition. Additionally, the course explores issues particularly related with online activities and e-commerce, including the relationship between trademark registration and domain names. Finally, this course will cover geographical indications and the main methods of protection.

Demand for cybersecurity is on the rise as the world becomes more connected and individuals, businesses and governments rely more on digital systems that are inherently vulnerable. This course provides a comprehensive overview of the current global cybersecurity challenges. It introduces cybersecurity as a global risk, and focuses on challenges related to public and private law aspects of cyber regulation, at a national, regional (supranational) and international level. The course introduces cybercrime, and focuses on a variety of topics, including industry standards and principles of cybersecurity, the relationship between cybersecurity,and data protection, national security plans, surveillance, fake news and deep fakes, cyber-terrorism and the dark web. Finally, the course covers war and military organization in cyberspace, focusing on famous cases of cyber-operations and attacks, the notion of cyber-defense in international law, and on the Tallinn Manual and international cooperation. Students will investigate the global fight against cybercrime and surveys the laws, institutions and international cooperation in this field. It focuses on the EU and explores the recent eIDAS regulatory framework promoting trust services and electronic identification, as well as the role of Europol and the European Cybercrime Centre. Additionally, the course examines the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the US, and takes note of the transatlantic cooperation in this field.

During the sessions in which this course is articulated, the main methodologies related to the determination of the arm’s length value of intra-group cross-border transactions will be illustrated.

This course will discuss the main features and mechanisms of functioning of consumption taxes (i.e. VAT and sales taxes) and other indirect taxes currently implemented around the world.

This course aims at illustrating, through practical cases, the main tax drivers and implications of wealth management activities and the special tax regimes currently offered by various jurisdictions to high net worth individuals.

The students will acquire a deep knowledge on matters that are relevant in the tax structuring on the acquisition of companies and on main Due Diligence aspects. The objective of this course is to develop a self-autonomy on the future development of this area of practice in their careers.