Best Is Yet To Come At the IJ Clinic

September 2001

Best Is Yet To Come At the IJ Clinic

On September 24, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Law School will open its doors for its fourth academic year.  This past year was extremely successful and productive, and IJ Clinic Director Patricia Lee and Assistant Director John Stinneford expect that the new year will be even better.

As Patricia describes in her feature (see left) we will engage more than a dozen law students in the IJ clinic, and serve more than 40 entrepreneurs.  Moreover, we will expand our work with local law firms to provide free legal representation to an even greater number of entrepreneurs than we can directly represent ourselves.

This year, the IJ Clinic is expanding its outreach programs as well, encouraging students to give presentations to several community groups that assist entrepreneurs.  Such presentations will not only provide valuable experience for students, but will also introduce many aspiring entrepreneurs to legal issues that will affect their businesses.  Finally, working in conjunction with the small business clinics at Loyola and Northwestern law schools, we have put together a series of legal presentations concerning common legal issues that entrepreneurs face after their businesses are up and running.

We have also continued to refine the class we teach at the law school. This year, it will be divided into two discrete but interdependent classes:  Entrepreneurship & the Law (taught in the fall) and Entrepreneurial Advocacy (taught in the winter).  Entrepreneurship & the Law will give an introduction to several relevant substantive areas of the law, including constitutional and regulatory issues, licensing and intellectual property.  Entrepreneurial Advocacy will provide training in the legal skills necessary to represent entrepreneurs including interviewing, review and analysis of business plans, contract drafting and negotiations.