Taught by Frances Leos Martinez, Clinic Director, and Heather K. Way. The Clinic is open to students who have completed their first two semesters. 6 credits (pass/fail) — offered in the Fall and Spring. Students must register for Law 697C.
The Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic provides students with a unique opportunity to develop business law and problem-solving skills while representing clients operating community enterprises -- small businesses, entrepreneurs, artists, nonprofit organizclientations, and community groups.
Students learn how to represent their clients on a broad variety of transactional business law matters. Typical legal matters include:
assisting businesses with choice of entity decisions
forming for-profit and nonprofit entities
applying to the IRS for tax-exempt status
drafting and negotiating contracts
providing legal advice to nonprofit boards of directors and staff
drafting lending and real estate documents
assisting with intellectual property matters
Clinic students learn how to represent their clients through clinic classes, weekly team meetings with their clinic supervisor, and independent research and initiative. The Clinic classes emphasize the applicable substantive law; the larger social and theoretical context of the Clinic’s work; and the development of practical lawyering skills including interviewing, counseling, negotiating, contract drafting, and public speaking.
The Clinic class meets on Monday afternoons from 2:30-4:30 pm. There will be one offsite class on a Friday afternoon or Saturday (at a time to be scheduled after the start of the semester). There is a mandatory orientation class on the first Friday of the semester, from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. In addition to class, students are required to keep a weekly schedule of eight in-clinic office hours, over the course of at least two days from Monday-Friday, 8-5. The Clinic is a significant time commitment. Students are expected to devote an average of 16-19 hours a week to the Clinic, including class time and in-clinic office hours. Attendance is required at the orientation and all classes and case rounds.
Enrollment is by application only. Students are encouraged to apply for the Clinic early as the Clinic fills up quickly. Students may request to be placed on a waiting list if space is unavailable during registration. Grading is on a pass/fail basis for this six-credit hour clinic.
There are no prerequisites for this clinic, although a background in business law (such as business associations, real estate, or tax law) or policy work will come in handy.
An application is required. For additional information, you may contact the Clinic Director Frances Leos Martinez (fmartinez@law.utexas.edu, 512-232-1222), or the Clinic Program Coordinator (ecdc@law.utexas.edu).
Martinez, Frances Leos 
Way, Heather K.