News and Events > Legal Services Available to Boulder-area Entrepreneurs Through CU Legal Clinic

Legal Services Available to Boulder-area Entrepreneurs Through CU Legal Clinic

October 14, 2005

The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic ("ELC"), part of the University of Colorado School of Law, provides legal services in connection with the formation, founding and/or development of small entities. Staffed by 16 second and third year law students, the ELC assists with the legal needs of young entities, such as formation, financing, and employment agreements.

The ELC does not charge for its services, although clients must pay for costs associated with ELC work (such as, for example, a state's filing fees for entity formation). ELC students directly interact with clients. Oversight of the ELC is provided by the ELC's instructors, Brad Bernthal and Chris Ozeroff, and through the generous efforts of attorneys from the Boulder office of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., an international law firm based in Washington, D.C. Those interested in applying for the ELC's services should send an e-mail inquiry to clinic student, Stan Doida.

The ELC's work often dovetails with the needs of TTO technologies and entrepreneurs. Not surprisingly, ELC students have assisted-and plan on continuing to assist-in addressing legal issues confronting TTO-affiliated technologies. Typical tasks handled by ELC students include incorporation of entities, registering LLCs, and drafting employment and licensing agreements.

The University of Colorado School of Law created and maintains the ELC in order to serve two symbiotic interests: (1) offer valuable legal services to small entities that would otherwise have difficulty obtaining such services (for instance, because they lack financing and/or are without access to traditional venture capital or angel investor funding); and (2) provide law students with transaction-side legal experience, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurial and/or technology law.

The ELC selects clients primarily on the basis of three criteria: (1) the prospective client would otherwise be unlikely to obtain qualified legal advice; (2) the prospective client has not received a significant round of outside funding or financing from investors; and (3) the prospective client's place of business is in Boulder County (although clients from Denver and other surrounding areas may be accepted as the ELC's resources permit). Clients who do not fit each of these standards are selected only under exceptional circumstances.

The ELC is part of the University of Colorado's outstanding offerings in technology law. The Law School's commitment to technology law includes the Silicon Flatirons Program, which hosts regular events discussing issues at the intersection of business, law, and technology. Every year, it co-sponsors an event focused on entrepreneurial issues. This fall, it will host "Commercial Opportunities at the Internet Frontier" on Monday, November 7th. For more information about the Silicon Flatirons Program and this event, visit its website at http://www.silicon-flatirons.org/conferences.