Spring 2021
Social Enterprise Law
Social enterprises are at the forefront of a paradigm shift, combining the goals of philanthropy with the power of business and legal systems to address social and environmental needs. This course introduces students to the legal, regulatory and business aspects of ‘social’ enterprises, which include both (i) for-profit business entities that undertake certain social and environmental objectives (alternately referred to as ESG, “triple bottom line” or “sustainability”) in addition to shareholder value in both the ordinary course of business and in change of control situations and (ii) non-profits that form “hybrids” with for-profit entities.
Students will study contrasting approaches to social entrepreneurship, learn about the different (new and existing) legal structures that regulate social enterprises, consider the types of financing models available social enterprises, evaluate the need for “exits” in the social enterprise space and consider the various means currently available to evaluate performance against the social and environmental objectives.
