The UW
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) has been awarded a $87,000,
three-year grant from the Herbert B. Jones Foundation
and donation of office space from the Washington Research Foundation
(WRF).
"The Herbert B. Jones Foundation grant allows us to build on the
recent in-kind donation of office space from WRF to turn our vision
of serving community entrepreneurs into a reality for the coming
06-07 academic year," said clinic director and law school professor
Sean O'Connor.
The mission of the law school's ELC is to promote economic development in
Washington state by providing free legal services for small businesses and high
tech start-up companies that face significant economic barriers to success. The
ELC will team UW law and business students with local attorneys and business
professionals to provide free legal and business advice to low-income
microentrepreneurs and early stage high-tech companies on business matters. The
core service provided to all clients is a legal and business analysis that
considers all aspects of an entrepreneur's proposed business model to identify
legal issues and business strengths and weaknesses.
"This may be the one chance that an early stage entrepreneur has of getting
broad legal and business planning advice to avoid the classic pitfalls of new
ventures," said O'Connor. Currently, student teams and a base of attorney
and business supervisors have been lined up for the fall quarter. Some clients
have already been identified for the fall, but early-stage entrepreneurs are
encouraged to contact Program Director
Katie Meyer at 206-783-1086.
Further information on the ELC can be found at:
http://www.law.washington.edu/Clinics/Entrepreneurial/.
The Herbert B. Jones Foundation, named for a successful Washington
entrepreneur and small businessman, provides grants to new business programs
managed by post secondary educational entities in Washington state.
The WRF helps Washington state research institutions capture value from their
emerging technologies, through intellectual property management and start-up
investment activities.