Book excerpt: Accounting and Corporate Finance for Lawyers introduces soon-to-be lawyers to fundamental accounting, financial statement, financial analysis, and corporate finance concepts to utilize in practice. Accounting and Corporate Finance for Lawyers is designed to teach law students how to read and understand financial statements and footnotes, assess a company’s financial position, determine whether a company can issue a dividend, assess whether a contingency has to be disclosed, apply time value of money concepts, and evaluate financial provisions and covenants in contracts. The goal of this book is to prepare law students to be successful in the practice of law by providing the critical foundation of understanding accounting and corporate finance concepts and principles, or the language of business people. New to the Second Edition: Updates of information, statistics, concepts, and examples to bring current New section discussing interactions between accountants and attorneys Addition of a Present Value of an Annuity Due table Clarifications and minor corrections throughout Professors and students will benefit from: A reader-friendly organization and style Detailed explanations of concepts and principles through examples Discussion of how various principles are applied in practice Real-world illustrations Examples and exhibits that supplement the substance Exercises and problems designed to build a student’s knowledge base