General Description:
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic ("clinic") student attorneys provide legal services to clients in connection with their start-up businesses. The Clinic focuses upon basic corporate work, commercial contracts, and select intellectual property matters. Typical tasks include: advising clients regarding choice of entity; forming corporations and limited liability companies; drafting shareholder agreements and operating agreements; drafting employment agreements, consulting agreements and intellectual property agreements; counseling clients regarding trademark and other intellectual property strategies and prosecuting patents.
The Clinic acts as a law firm for its clients' business related legal matters. As a prerequisite, a student must take three courses within the areas of corporate law, agency, tax, securities, intellectual property, transactional drafting, or transactional law. Clinic students work in teams of two under the supervision of local attorneys. Each team counsels several clients during the academic year. Students draft documents and memorandum on behalf of their clients. Each week students engage in a roundtable discussion where they present and analyze issues related to their client matters. Student attorneys' work in the Clinic is graded.
In addition to work on behalf of clients, student attorneys read materials on topics salient to entrepreneurial law. On a weekly basis, student attorneys also participate in seminar discussions with local attorneys and entrepreneurs. The seminar component focuses on issues that transactional attorneys frequently address in working with entrepreneurs and emerging companies. Finally, in addition to client work, each student team completes a project that focuses on the local entrepreneurial community. Representative projects include presenting legal issues to underserved entrepreneurs, researching ethical issues related to transactional practice, and drafting agreements for use by professors who teach classes in which startups are formed.
Select Term:
LAWS 7619-801
Instructor(s):
J. Brad Bernthal
Meeting Times & Locations:
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Tue |
4:40 PM - 6:40 PM |
WLAW 303 |
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