His primary teaching responsibilities are in intellectual property and business law. He teaches the core Business Associations course, and has taught Mergers and Acquisitions. His core areas are in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Research Lab and in the International Intellectual Property Seminar. The WIPO Lab, run every Spring semester in partnership with the WIPO Traditional Knowledge Division, explores cutting-edge issues directly at the interface between research and policy in international intellectual property. Prof. Shabalala also teaches the International Intellectual Property seminar in the Fall which is run as an international negotiation on an update of the TRIPS Agreement, part of his commitment to experiential learning.