The new age of serving in-house has arrived. Successful corporate counsel are not just expected to be superb lawyers, but astute business partners as well. This session (and Part II) will aid you in developing the business acumen you need to succeed in your role and be primed to ascend the ranks within your organization. A common misconception is that the information generated by accounting systems does not generally reflect the underlying economic activities of the organization. Nothing could be further from the truth. In this session, we will provide an overview of the role and key components of the financial statements, and critically demonstrate how a strong understanding of them allows any user to identify and assess the operating and financing strategies of almost any company.