Description of Course #: 6948 - Business Innovation & Technology Clinic
aka "Small Business Legal Clinic"
a. Overview
The Clinic is a four hour course. The overall teaching goal is to give students, working under the close supervision of seasoned attorneys, the experience of representing actual small business owners facing common and often complex legal issues. The student lawyers handle actual client cases beginning to end. A minimum of 14 hours per week must be spent on Clinic related activities. All time must be punctually entered into the Clinic's case management software system. The students must attend weekly seminars on substantive small business legal issues and must complete writing assignments involving the drafting of routine transactional documents (including a promissory note, a mutual release, a corporate resolution, a specified subsection of a complex purchase and sale agreement, a deed, a mortgage, etc.). Students must submit "reflection papers" in mid semester and at the end of the semester.
b. Enrollment
The Small Business Clinic is a one semester course. A second or third year law student who has earned 45 credit hours toward their J.D. degree and who has completed the courses for professional responsibility and business organization may enroll in the course. A maximum of eight students are enrolled for each semester. A student who successfully completes the course and who wishes to continue working for fewer credits for another term may take the advanced clinic course for a semester.
c. Seminar
The students lawyers attend weekly seminars on substantive small business related legal issues. The topics for the weekly seminars change slightly from semester to semester but generally include topics such as: contracts, choosing the right entity (for profits, nonprofits, LLCs etc), trademarks, copyrights, LLC operating agreements, tax issues, employment law, etc.
d. Supervision
Each student is required to attend a weekly one-hour supervision session to review the progress being made on the completing the client deliverables for each open file that has been assigned to the student in question.
e. Faculty
Adjunct professors John Little and Mark Bobb direct the Small Legal Business Clinic
f. Student Assessment
At the beginning of each semester the students are informed of the twelve "expectations" relevant to performance in the Clinic. The expectations are outlined in the Clinic's Policies and Procedures Manual. Grades, to a large extent, are based upon how well the student meets those expectations. At each of the weekly supervision session the supervisor takes notes on the progress that the student has made during proceeding week on achieving the deliverable for each open file, how well the client files are being maintained, how punctually time is being entered onto the case management software, the quality of the homework assignments submitted etc.
g. Casework
The Clinic serves small businesses and nonprofits in South Florida providing them the opportunity of receiving services at no cost (other than an initial $25 fee). Clients are selected based upon a variety of factors including the complexity of the case and the size and variety in the Clinic's case load. Clients are seen by appointment only. All client related work is done under the close supervision an attorney with extensive experience. The Clinic provides the students with the unique opportunity to acquire skills, training and practical experience in working with business clients. These experiences help students bridge the gap between law school and the practice of law in a transactional legal environment. Assistance is provided in areas such as entity formation, contract preparation, real estate transactions, trademark & copyright applications, leases, tax advice, regulatory compliance, licensing, franchising, 501(c)(3) exemption applications, and more. The Clinic does not provide representation in matters involving litigation. The student lawyers handle each client cases from beginning to end starting with the initial interview, then preparing an intake memo and reaching a case acceptance decision with the supervisor, followed by the delivery of the requested service and then file closing. Files are approved for closing only after the supervisor has confirmed that the file is completely up to date and contains documentation of all communication relevant to the client.
k. Clinic Facilities
The Small Business Clinic operates out of the Law Clinic offices on the first floor of the College of Law.