LAWS 8133 Business Law Research for the Transactional Practitioner

Business Law Research is a simulation class in which students develop primarily their legal research skills, but also other lawyering skills such as organization and management of legal work, professional ethics, and collaboration. Students will educate themselves on critical research skills for transactional law practice through legal compliance scenarios that apply state, federal, and local law. Students in this class will also develop key business law research skills needed for drafting contracts and working on other important transactional tasks, such as due diligence for business combinations. Most initial research instruction takes place outside the classroom so that students can work on simulations in the classroom and receive guidance from the instructor. There are multiple opportunities for self-evaluation as well as extensive feedback on a regular basis from the instructor.

Course overview

Department
Law
School
LAW
Credits
2
Level
Graduate
Offered
Every Fall

Course evaluations

Response-weighted averages from Boston College’s official course evaluations (Avalanche/Blue).

Course rating
4.47 / 5 · Very Good
65 responses
Instructor rating
4.63 / 5 · Excellent
65 responses
Terms evaluated
4
Most recent: Fall 2025

Scales: overall ratings run from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); agreement questions from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree); weekly effort from 1 (up to 1 hour) to 5 (10 or more hours).

Evaluations by term and instructor
TermInstructorCourse overallInstructor overallWell organizedClear learning objectivesIntellectually challengingHelpful assignmentsApplicable beyond courseAttendance necessaryWeekly effortResponses
Fall 2025Amy Bruce4.34.44.74.84.54.64.64.51–3 hrs/week16 of 17
Spring 2025Amy Bruce4.34.54.74.74.34.74.84.51–3 hrs/week21 of 22
Spring 2024Amy Bruce4.84.84.94.94.64.84.84.71–3 hrs/week18 of 19
Spring 2022Amy Bruce4.64.94.84.84.44.84.84.41–3 hrs/week10 of 18

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

  • Amy Bruce
    Fall 2025, Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2022 · Official rating 4.63/5