Dan Herron said:
 
I have had an inquiry from an ALSB member regarding how many b-law
> courses schools are requiring for accounting majors.  Her school now
> requires two [legal environ course and a UCC/CPA review course, I
> would presume][and {Reitzel's language} wants to reduce the number to one] and
 she'd like to have some data to counter this move.
So how many b-law courses does your school require of its accounting
> majors?
 
California State University, Fresno requires two business law courses.
 
The first, BA18, is a 4-unit course required of all business majors.
Entitled "Business and the Legal Environment," it covers background
topics (nature of law and the legal system; business and the
constitution; civil procedure; overview of criminal law, tort law),
the law of contracts, the law of agency, and overviews of labor and
employment law and international business transactions.  BA18 is a
broad course with an in-depth, integrative focus on contract and
agency law.
 
Accounting majors may then choose BA150 or BA151, both 3-unit courses.
 
BA150 covers property law (including bailments) as an introduction to
UCC topics.  The UCC topics are sales (including law of carriers &
documents of title), secured transactions (including suretyship), and
commercial paper.
 
BA151 covers partnership, corporations, and other business
organizations; securities regulation and bankruptcy; and insurance law
if time permits.
H
Underlying policy is emphasized in all the courses.
 
What SHOULD be required of accountants?  All three courses, in my
opinion, as was the case at the university at which I previously
taught.  The CPA exam covers the topics of all three courses, and the
instruction in those topics should NOT be of a CPA review sort.  CPAs
(and their clients) deserve an in-depth treatment of all topics that the
practice of accountancy involves.