General Information
Mission
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC or the Clinic) provides law students with practical experience in transactional law while offering valuable legal services without charge to local startup businesses lacking access to legal resources. The ELC pursues the following complementary student and client goals:
- Provide a rigorous and practical educational experience by serving as an inspiration for students interested in transactional law;
- Promote ethical values in transactional lawyers; and
- Provide outreach that connects to communities outside the law school and serves clients that would otherwise remain under-served by the practicing bar.
By assisting entrepreneurs when they need help the most, the ELC provides CU Law School students hands-on opportunities to make a difference in the community.
The Clinic’s clients include University of Colorado students and professors, local entrepreneurs, and local startup companies. CU Law School students staff the Clinic during the academic year under the joint supervision of a full-time clinician and experienced attorneys from top law firms and businesses in Boulder and Denver. Clinic students work in teams of two and counsel several clients throughout the academic year while working under several supervising attorneys.
Students interact directly with clients to provide legal advice on a wide range of business-law issues including 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. Each week students engage in a roundtable discussion where they present and analyze issues related to their client matters.
In addition to work on behalf of clients, student attorneys read materials on topics salient to entrepreneurial law and participate in seminar discussions and problem solving exercises led by local attorneys and entrepreneurs. The seminar component focuses on issues that transactional attorneys frequently address in working with entrepreneurs and emerging companies. Finally, each student attorney 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.
Community Projects and Select Testimonials
The Bear and The Rat:
- "The ELC helped assess and execute the legal documents that our growing company needed to protect ourselves. We worked with two detail-oriented, passionate teams; it was very hard to believe that they were law students! Most importantly, they helped shuttle our trademark documents through the USPTO - a daunting feat for a startup of two. If it wasn't for them, our name/brand could very well still be in purgatory. We'd recommend the ELC to any startup business in Colorado!" – Meg Meyer, Co-Founder of The Bear and The Rat
Everlater:
- "The ELC helped us get a rock-solid legal foundation when we didn't have resources to spare, and the experience of working with the law students was really rewarding." – Nate Abbott, Co-Founder of Everlater
Rush Bowls:
- "The ELC was tremendously helpful in providing a strong starting point for which we have been able to grow. The Clinic was incredibly valuable help when time and resources are so in demand." – Andrew Pudalov, President of RUSH BOWLS
University Parent:
- "The ELC helped University Parent in a countless number of ways, including auditing our existing legal documents, drafting agreements, and making sure that we were in good standing. I'm so thankful for their support." – Sarah Schupp, Founder of UniversityParent.com
MiCasa Testimonials:
- "Mi Casa offers a 14 week business planning class for entrepreneurs and small business owners. One of the important classes is on legal entities and aspects of small business ownership. The ELC has filled this gap of knowledge that small business owners have. The knowledge imparted is very practical and the business owners leave with a clear idea of important legal issues they need to be aware of. The ELC provides simple, practical, and credible information for small business owner's to move forward with their business." – Elena Vasconez, Director of Business Development, Mi Casa Resource Center – Denver Women’s Business Center