Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic
Course Information
- Course Number
- L8631
- Curriculum Level
- Upperclass
- Areas of Study
- Clinics, Externships, and Experiential Learning, Corporate Law, Business, and Finance, Intellectual Property and Technology, Leadership
- Type
- Clinic
- Additional Attributes
- Experiential Credit
Section 001 Information
Instructor
Lynnise Pantin
Pritzker Pucker Family Clinical Professor of Transactional Law; Vice Dean for Experiential Education
Section Description
Method of Evaluation: Client work and assignments
One Semester (Fall/Spring), 7 credits; (4 fieldwork credits graded, 3 classroom credits graded)
The Entrepreneurship & Community Development Clinic (“ECD Clinic”) is a one-semester course that introduces students to transactional lawyering. Students in the ECD Clinic will provide free transactional legal services to low income and moderate income entrepreneurs and community based organizations in the neighborhoods surrounding Columbia on issues relating to new and emerging businesses.
Working under the supervision of the clinic director, students will provide a broad range of business law, intellectual property and transactional services. Clients might include micro-entrepreneurs, technology entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, artists, authors or filmmakers, who may be individuals or for-profit businesses in need of transactional legal counsel related to starting or operating their business. The clinic will be of interest to students interested in learning to work with organizational clients and learning to represent clients in transactions.
For fieldwork purposes students will be assigned weekly office hours. The fieldwork is complemented by a seminar that addresses substantive law surrounding the issues encountered with students’ fieldwork.
- School Year & Semester
- Fall 2023
- Location
- JGH 807
- Schedule
-
Class meets on
- Monday
- Wednesday
- Points
- 3
- Method of Evaluation
- Other
- J.D Writing Credit?
- No
Learning Outcomes
- Primary
-
- Students in the Clinic will be able to develop meaningful and transferable legal, practical and ethical skills,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to develop an ability to effectively counsel clients on substantive areas of the law that relate not only to client goals and concerns but also address business objectives, which requires students’ mastery of listening, researching, and analysis techniques,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to demonstrate understanding of the New York and/or Delaware business entity (for-profit, nonprofit, benefit corporation) statutes, corporate law, and best corporate practices,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to conduct legal research, synthesize large amounts of information, and compose written analysis on non-litigation legal issues in a persuasive, concise, and organized fashion,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to strategically manage a transactional client matter, including completion of milestones consistent with a project plan, maintenance of an organized filing system, documentation of client-related matters, and accurate time-keeping,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to interact professionally with clients, colleagues and third parties, including oral and written communications,
- Students in the Clinic will be able to compare, evaluate, and reflect critically on topics related to their own career path and professional development, and
- Students in the Clinic will be able to demonstrate the ability to identify and critically examine how legal structures that promote business transactions affect people, communities, and social systems.
Course Limitations
- Instructor Pre-requisites
- None
- Instructor Co-Requisites
- None
- Recommended Courses
- None
- Other Limitations
- Admission to the course requires instructor permission . Enrollment is limited to 8 students per semester.
Other Sections of Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic
School Year & Semester
Fall 2023
Instructor
Points
4