Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic - Project Work

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.