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Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic at MSU College of Law
  • About
  • Request Help
  • Events and News
  • Contact Us

< About

  • What We Value and Who We Are
  • Student Attorneys and Alumni
  • Photo Gallery
  • Attorney Advertising Disclaimer

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  • Typical projects and representative clients
  • Application

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MSU EI Law Clinic

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Michigan State University
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic at MSU College of Law

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic at MSU College of Law

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic >

About

About

  • What We Value
  • Who We Are

What We Value

Mission

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic supports underserved, high-impact entrepreneurial organizations that transform the marketplace and society more broadly with their innovations and creations.

We accomplish our mission by:

  • Training students to develop analytical skills, authentic professional identities, and autonomy, while they also learn how transactional law can contribute to equity;
  • Providing a breadth of free legal services to entrepreneurs and innovators, from direct legal representation in transactions to community-oriented capacity-building in workshops, office hours, and meetups; and
  • Pursuing systemic change through elevating underrepresented voices, values and visions in entrepreneurship and innovation law.

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic is grateful that financial and in-kind support to pursue this mission comes from a variety of sources, including the Law College, corporations, law firms and individuals. This program is approved by the State Bar of Michigan as an entity eligible to receive pro bono contributions from attorneys. The clinic is grateful for the support it has received in the past, and looks forward to receiving additional funding from new donors to expand its critical services.

Anti-oppression, diversity, inclusion, and equity

The EEILC shares the dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion of Michigan State University set forth in its strategic plan, to "providing opportunity through education and building the future of Michigan and the nation with the talent and contributions of individuals from all backgrounds and communities."1 The EILC also takes seriously its professional obligations under Michigan Rule of Professional Conduct 6.5(a), which states in relevant part that "[a] lawyer shall take particular care to avoid treating [persons involved in the legal process] discourteously or disrespectfully because of the person’s race, gender, or other protected personal characteristic."2 The mission and work of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic is further inspired by, and actively advances, any "movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression."3

Land Acknowledgement

The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic collectively acknowledges that Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg—Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw. We recognize, support, and advocate for the sovereignty of Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. By offering this Land Acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Michigan State University more accountable to the needs of American Indian and Indigenous peoples.

  1. Michigan State University, "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion," Strategic Plan, available at https://strategicplan.msu.edu/strategic-plan/dei (last accessed August 15, 2022).
  2. Michigan Rule of Professional Conduct 6.5(a) ("A lawyer shall treat with courtesy and respect all persons involved in the legal process. A lawyer shall take particular care to avoid treating such a person discourteously or disrespectfully because of the person’s race, gender, or other protected personal characteristic. To the extent possible, a lawyer shall require subordinate lawyers and nonlawyer assistants to provide such courteous and respectful treatment.")
  3. The groundbreaking author, educator and activist bell hooks famously developed this inclusive and expansive definition of feminism, which expresses that feminism "is not about being anti-male" and also emphasizes the importance of eradicating oppression of all kinds, including racism and classism. bell hooks, FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY (2000) at viii, 1.

Who We Are

Clinic Student Attorneys

All clinic work is performed by upper-level law students at MSU Law, working under the supervision of licensed Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic faculty. Learn more about current student attorneys of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic.

Clinic Staff Attorneys and Fellows

While the EILC does not currently have any staff attorneys or fellows, the EILC anticipates future opportunities may arise to grow the EILC. If you are interested in pursuing a position with the EILC as a staff attorney or fellow, please reach out to EILC faculty to express your interest. EILC staff attorney(s) and/or fellow(s) are fully engaged in leading the EILC's work, including direct representation of EILC clients, teaching select classes of the EILC seminars, assisting on projects to advance the EILC’s goals both in and outside the classroom, and providing guidance to EILC student attorneys.

Clinic Alumni and Partner Attorneys

EILC alumni and friends of the EILC support the EILC in a variety of ways, including occasionally attending EILC events, and volunteering to support students as seminar guests, mock clients, and mentors. If you are interested in pursuing any of these opportunities with the EILC, please reach out to EILC faculty to express your interest.

MSU Law Clinic Office Staff

The EILC could not accomplish its work without the invaluable support from the MSU Law Clinic Office Manager, Jesse Alvarez, and the Director of MSU Law Clinics, Kathryn Fort (who is also Director of the Indian Law Clinic at MSU Law).
 

Special Topics

    Contact us

    (517) 432-6880

    Email

    eei.law.clinic@law.msu.edu

    Mailing Address

    MSU Law Clinic - Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic P.O. Box 1570 East Lansing, MI 48826

    Physical Address*

    Michigan State University Law Building 648 N. Shaw Lane, Room 215 East Lansing, MI 48824-1300 * Please send all correspondence to our mailing address. Mail sent to our physical address may be delayed by up to a week or more.

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