The best part? Witnessing the excitement on clients' faces when they explain their business idea to me and knowing that my work positively affects them.
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) is an innovative clinic serving entrepreneurs throughout the Pacific Northwest. The ELC teams law and business students with pro bono attorneys and business advisors. Together they provide critical early stage legal and business counseling to technology entrepreneurs, small business owners, social entrepreneurs, nonprofits and University of Washington and Institute for Translational Health Sciences faculty researchers. By providing such counseling, the ELC has become one of the cornerstones of the innovation ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest. The ELC also partners with CoMotion, Life Science Washington and various community organizations to give presentations on various topics of interest to startups that are open to the public.
The ELC is a transactional and counseling clinic. Our services center on providing startups with a comprehensive "legal and business audit" that will help them identify issues before they become serious problems. We provide startups with a confidential report, generally at the end of the academic quarter. This report will also provide guidance on how to proceed to remedy potential problems and/or establish systems to limit or prevent standard business formation and growth pitfalls. Our standard representation includes a commitment only to this audit process.
Upon mutual written agreement between the startup and ELC, we may extend our representation to assist in basic entrepreneurship-focused legal service, such as:
UW Law’s Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and Washington Pro Bono Patent Network have provided myriad PNW entrepreneurs and start-ups with early-stage legal services and business counseling. Hear from recent clinic and Network participants about what they gained.
The free negotiation trainings and legal consults, which are available to register for now, are designed to help entrepreneurs and owners navigate corporate, employment and IP law issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
UW Law Professor Jennifer Fan, along with Foster School of Business Professor Elizabeth Umphress, will research COVID-19 recovery strategies for minority-owned businesses.
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic's expansive COVID-19 Resource List is designed to help organizations find and leverage application information and services during the pandemic.
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic provides mission-critical legal counseling to up-and-coming businesses, inventors and entrepreneurs.