Brooklyn Boro

Brooklyn Law School hosts fifth annual business boot camp

January 18, 2017 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Susan Posen, ’78, chair of The House of Z, the fashion house founded by her son designer Zac Posen and Dean Nick Allard during a panel at Brooklyn Law School’s (BLS) fifth annual Business Boot Camp. Photos courtesy of Brooklyn Law School
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Brooklyn Law School (BLS) hosted its annual Business Boot Camp, a four-day “mini MBA” winter session course that is led by Professor Michael Gerber. The event was held in collaboration with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services and John P. Oswald, ’84, president and CEO of the Capital Trust Group and a member of the school’s board of trustees.

One of the biggest complaints among law students is that law school teaches the law, but does not provide the skills necessary to run a practice. This program attempts to provide that service and gives students intensive instruction in developing a business plan; reading financial statements; valuing assets; raising capital to create and run a company; and meeting business goals.

Presentations and panels focused on everything from cybersecurity to how to buy and sell a business, culminating on Thursday with a Q&A session with Dean Nick Allard and BLS alumni Susan Posen, chair of The House of Z, the fashion house founded by her son designer Zac Posen.

Posen was formerly a partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP and spent several years as assistant general counsel at Cablevision. She also ran a short-lived venture capital firm focused on women-owned businesses called Diva Capital that was stymied by the NASDAQ crash of 2001. Posen shared with Boot Camp students how she leveraged all of that experience into her successful career.

“My philosophy has always been, don’t regret anything. You can learn from every experience,” Posen said. “My experience with Diva Capital taught me so much about entrepreneurship — and what you don’t do.”

John Oswald also held a Q&A with Fred Curry, a BLS alumni and practice leader of anti-money laundering and economic sanctions at Deloitte. During the session, Curry discussed the benefits of having an MBA in addition to a law degree.

There was also a panel on advising new businesses and ventures led by John Rudikoff, another alumni and CEO of the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at the school. Attorneys were taught to focus on design, product and attracting clients prior to intellectual property concerns.

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