5 Courses To Help You Achieve Financial Literacy
Law • 4 min read
Individual Course
Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers
Course Length
6 weeks
3–4 hours a week
Featuring faculty from:
Harvard Law School
Certificate Price:
$ 1,600
Enroll by Jan 29, 2026
Enroll NowCertificate Price:
$ 1,600
Enroll by Jan 29, 2026
Enroll NowTaught by Harvard Law School faculty, this Harvard Online course helps attorneys navigate financial situations to increase profitability and minimize risk.
Google pays $2 billion for Fitbit, which has yet to turn a profit. How did Google come up with that price? Bayer agrees to pay more than $10 billion to settle claims that its weedkiller, Roundup, caused cancer. Why not $15 billion or $5 billion?
Lawyers negotiate deals and manage lawsuits involving billions of dollars each year. To do that, you need more than legal expertise. You need a fundamental understanding of the finances behind a deal or dispute, including how to read and analyze financial statements or use financial concepts to value a business, patent, or marital estate. You need more than law knowledge to advise a client on any significant transaction—and to help a client even assess whether it's best to pursue a claim or to settle.
Successful attorneys cannot rely solely on CFOs, accounting teams, or outside experts. You need to independently understand the financial opportunities your client faces and discuss them using the language of accounting. Through examples of valuations, disputes, and presentations from real-world practitioners, this online law certificate program, Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers, will teach you how to interpret and use financial data, make a business case for a deal or lawsuit, and understand when and how experts can support—or undermine—your work.
The finance for lawyers course will be delivered via HBS Online’s course platform and immerse learners in real-world examples from experts at industry-leading organizations.
Self-Guided
Harvard Online
Industries:
- Legal Services
- Financial Services
- Real Estate
- Consulting
Global Learning Community
- Upgrade Your Skills
Analyze and Interpret Financial Statements with Confidence
- Upgrade Your Skills
Evaluate Business Valuations and Quantify Damages
- Upgrade Your Skills
Integrate Financial Insights into Legal Strategy
- Learn from real case studies
- Do it on your own time
- Earn a Certificate of Course Completion
- Be part of the Harvard Community
Syllabus
Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers is designed to help you navigate your organization or client’s financial goals while increasing profitability and minimizing risks. Through examples of business valuations and presentations from real-world practitioners, you’ll learn how to interpret financial data, make a business case, and know what types of experts can help support your argument. Learning requirements: There are no prerequisites to enrolling in this course. In order to earn a Certificate of Course Completion from Harvard Online, participants must thoughtfully complete all 6 modules, including satisfactory completion of the associated quizzes, by stated deadlines.
Faculty
Industry Experts
Your Instructor
Bala G. Dharan
Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Visiting Professor and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Law School
Bala G. Dharan is the Robert B. and Candice J. Haas Visiting Professor and Senior Lecturer at Harvard Law School, and Visiting Professor of Accounting at MIT Sloan School of Management. He's also a Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group, LLC, where he provides business and litigation services consulting. Dr. Dharan has extensive consulting experience in financial accounting and disclosures issues, finance, valuation, investment analysis, corporate governance, and forensic analysis and investigation.
Your Instructor
John Coates
John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School
John Coates is the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at Harvard Law School, where he also serves as the Vice Dean for Finance and Strategic Initiatives, and Research Director of the Center on the Legal Profession. Before joining Harvard, he was a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in financial institutions and M&A. He has testified before Congress and provided consulting services to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. Department of Treasury, the New York Stock Exchange, and participants in the financial markets, including hedge funds, investment banks, and private equity funds. For the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Professor Coates served as Acting Director for the Division of Corporation Finance, General Counsel, and Chair of the Investor-as-Owner Subcommittee of the Investor Advisory Committee. He also served as an independent consultant for the SEC in one of the first “Fair Fund” distributions and is currently serving as a DOJ-appointed independent monitor for one of the Global Systemically Important Financial Institutions.
Industry Expert
Ken Feinberg
Ken Feinberg is an attorney and one of the nation's leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Learn how to value compensation funds based on his work on high-profile tragedies, including the BP Gulf oil spill, the Virginia Tech and Boston Marathon bombings, and the September 11th Victim Fund.
Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
Industry Expert
Leo Strine
Leo Strine is Of Counsel in the Corporate Department at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and prior to joining the firm was also the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. Learn how lawyers can effectively use financial knowledge in the courtroom to argue a case.
Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.
Industry Expert
Matt Schaefer
Matt Schaefer has extensive experience with state and local tax law, appellate practice, and contract law. Learn how experts can help you build a case with compelling estimates for monetary damages.
Thanks to this course which helped me understand business and finance from the scope of a lawyer. Now I feel more confident at reading and analysing numbers that regularly come up in corporate transactions.
Omran D.
Financial Analysis and Valuation for Lawyers Learner
Amazing experience, highly recommended for all lawyers including transactional and in-house counsel like myself, and litigators as well, to further develop a proper focus on increasing profitability while minimizing risks.
Adam G.
Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel
Through the Harvard Online community of learners, I have met and networked with people from all over the world and have learned so much from them.
Astrid C.
When choosing between the many available options for online learning, I chose the Harvard Online community because of the wealth of diversity between students and the outstanding faculty teaching the courses.
Robert D.
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Past Participant Discounts
Learners who have enrolled in at least one qualifying Harvard Online program can receive a 30% discount, automatically applied to the Program Fee upon time of payment.
Learners who have earned a verified certificate for a HarvardX course hosted on the edX platform are eligible to receive a 30% discount using a discount code. Please check your email for a code or contact us.
Nonprofit, Government, Military, and Education Discounts
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