Multi-Profession Business Law Clinic

Transactional Practice Skills

The Minnesota Multi-Profession Business Law Clinic is an innovative opportunity for students to learn and practice transactional lawyering skills. The Clinic calls on practitioners in leading law and accounting firms to supervise and mentor law students who represent startup and emerging businesses. The Clinic benefits two populations: law students and their entrepreneur clients.

The Course

Offered as a full-year 6-credit course, the Clinic allows students to enhance their skills in negotiation, drafting, and client problem-solving by exposing them to the issues surrounding the creation and development of new businesses.

The first semester includes 45 hours of classroom work in Transactional Lawyering Skills. The components of the Clinic's curriculum are Client Interviewing (10%), Problem Solving and Negotiation (65%) and Drafting Readable Documents (25%).

The Clients

The clinic takes clients referred from several sources. Its primary referral source is the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, a consulting entity for minority-owned startups and emerging businesses. The clinic also works with the University's Academic and Corporate Relations Center and the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management. These University of Minnesota opportunities include representing business startups based on University of Minnesota research and technology and representing student-founded businesses. This connection between the Law School and other University of Minnesota departments creates excellent interdisciplinary opportunities.

The Attorneys

Experienced business law attorneys from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area supervise the clinic students, who take the lead with client representation.