At Illinois State, we have been fortunate enough to have a required law
class at the MBA level for the past fifteen years. The course has been
required of all MBAs for three hours credit.
 
Over the past year, we have been undergoing some redesign of the MBA, and
two parts of the redesign have affected this course directly: (1) Moving the
law class from the Core to the Foundation (meaning that it is required only
of students who have not had law at the undergrad level) and (2) reduction
of all Foundation courses to a two-hour format.
 
In return, we were able to negotiate (1) addition of three new law electives
in the MBA level (Corporate Law, Labor Law, and International Law) taught
one per semester on a revolving basis; (2) a requirement that the course
have been taken at the undergrad level within the past 5 years in order to
avoid taking it; and (3) participation in a new interdisciplinary course
including a major business ethics component.
 
Please note an article by Don Boren about 4-5 years ago (sorry, can't come
up with the cite) in the Journal of Legal Studies Education detailing a
survey of Law in the MBA. One caveat: there are a few inaccuracies (caused
by survey respondents, not Don) and the survey did not distinguish between
"core" and "foundation". It may be helpful.
 
We also have a junior level Legal Environment course required of all
business majors. Accounting majors are required to take Business Law I and
II as well, and Business Law I is a requirment (5 of the six following
courses...) in the Business Admin. major. We also teach a few neat electives
at the undergrad level, including labor law, government regulation, and
international law.
 
I put this out for everyone only because I am proud of what we have and we
think it is a pretty good model. We are accredited at both undergrad and MBA
level with separate accounting accred. by AACSB. By publicizing our good
models, we avoid the argument that "everyone else has less law than we do."
 
I wish you well. There is always pressure to reduce law. You need to
continue to use the lawyerly skills of negotiation to keep what I believe is
an essential part of the business curriculum. Good luck.
 
Charles McGuire
Chair, Dept. of Finance, Insurance and Law
Illinois State University
Normal, IL
(309)438-8777