Course Description: Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic
- Taught by Frances Leos Martinez and Heather Way (spring only)
- 6 credits (pass/fail) — offered Fall, Spring
- FAQs for prospective students
- Clinic case examples for prospective students (PDF)
- The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters, including LLM students.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CLINIC – 6 credits (application required)
Take your transactional lawyering skills to the next level with the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic (ECDC). The ECDC provides students with a unique opportunity to develop business law and problem-solving skills while providing transactional legal representation to small businesses, social enterprises, artists, nonprofit organizations, and community groups in Texas.
Through hands-on interactions, ECDC students assist their clients with a broad variety of transactional matters, including:
- making choice of entity decisions
- forming for-profit and nonprofit entities
- drafting and reviewing contracts
- applying to the IRS for tax-exempt status
- providing legal advice to nonprofit boards of directors and staff
- drafting and reviewing real estate documents
- assisting with intellectual property matters, including filing trademark applications
ECDC students build their transactional lawyering skills through representing clinic clients, weekly seminar and case rounds classes, and regular team meetings with their clinic supervisor. Skills emphasized include:
- interviewing and counseling clients
- contract drafting
- public speaking
- case management
- legal research
Through community tours, classes, and cases, ECDC students also learn about Austin’s community development challenges and how they as attorneys can use their transactional lawyering skillset to make an impact in their communities.
The Clinic class meets on Monday afternoons 2:30-4:30 pm. There is a mandatory orientation class on the first Friday of the semester, 1:00-4:30 pm. The Clinic is a significant time commitment. Each clinic team typically represents two clients, and students are expected to devote an average of 13-14 hours a week on casework, along with an additional 4-5 hours for class time and assignments. There are no prerequisites for this clinic, although a background in business law (such as business associations, real estate, or tax law) will come in handy.
Enrollment is by application only. Students are encouraged to apply for the Clinic during early registration, as the Clinic fills up quickly. For deadlines and other application details, see the Texas Law Clinical Program’s Application Information. Students may request to be placed on a waiting list if space is unavailable during registration.
For additional information, you may contact the Clinic Director Frances Leos Martinez (fmartinez@law.utexas.edu, 512-232-1222) or the Clinical Program Coordinator (ecdc@law.utexas.edu).