Pocket MBA 2021: Finance for Lawyers and Other Professionals

The Practising Law Institute (PLI) is hosting a two-day conference, Pocket MBA 2021: Finance for Lawyers and Other Professionals, with Mayer Brown partner, Anna Pinedo, as a Program Chairperson. This program is designed to improve understanding of business strategies, accounting fundamentals, and vocabulary used by management, investors, auditors, and bankers.

Addressing current topics in finance, an experienced and diverse group of professionals will cover a broad overview of finance and practical legal considerations that emerge in the business world. The program will also discuss the ethical issues that attorneys face when dealing in the business world, diving into the rules of ethics for discovery, privileged communication, and disclosure obligation.

As Program Chairperson, Anna Pinedo will deliver the conference’s opening remarks on day one. Immediately after, she will join the first morning panel, Accounting Fundamentals. Specifically, the panel will address accounting fundamentals and core concepts; basics of revenue recognition rules and their application under illustrative scenarios; recent developments in accounting standards, including the new way to estimate credit losses (Current Expected Credit Losses, or “CECL”); and the main differences among a financial statement audit, a “review” of financial statements engagement, and a compilation engagement.

On day two, Anna Pinedo will kick-off with the first panel, Investment Banking Basics: Fundamentals of Capital Structures. She will cover common financing alternatives, including debt, equity, and hybrids; sources of funding for public and private markets; liquidity, specifically, raising and deploying capital; finding the Optimal Capital Structure; and current marketplace developments.

Also on the second day of the program, Mayer Brown associate, Corina Cercelaru, will participate on the late-morning panel, Regulatory and Legal Compliance in International Business & Trade. This panel will provide an overview of prevalent threats companies face today, and will discuss cross-border enforcement landscape and developments, prioritizing compliance resources, and will answer the question: What does corporate compliance look like in different industries?