LAW589
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
(Ugwu)
Co-requisite courses: LAW 451 Corporations AND LAW 599 Entrepreneurial Law
Prerequisite for:
Instructor(s): Dr. Uchenna Ugwu
Course credit: 3
Method of Presentation: Other (Clinical)
Teamwork:
METHOD OF EVALUATION
The course will be evaluated as Pass/Fail. To obtain a Pass, students are required to
i.participate in the bi-weekly case reviews and practical seminars on client interviewing, legal drafting, case and client management, professional communication, and professional ethics and responsibility;
ii.complete 50 clinical hours as scheduled in consultation between students and instructor/clinic supervisor;
iii.attend team meetings;
iv.participate in community outreach and other events designed to educate entrepreneurs about legal issues; and
v.complete a self-evaluation and a reflection journal meeting the instructor’s minimum standard (to be communicated at the beginning of the Fall term).
COURSE DESCRIPTION
LAW 589 Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (ELC) is a 3-credit experiential learning course (evaluated on a credit/no credit basis) that consists of client work, weekly practical seminars, and community engagement. Students in the ELC will provide legal support by drafting legal information memoranda and transactional legal documents on a range of legal issues for early-stage, traditional start-ups and social enterprises, under the supervision of mentoring lawyers. Although the Clinic’s files vary from term to term, they often include matters related to entity formation, employment and hiring, intellectual property, consumer privacy, non-profits and charities regulations and compliance, business regulations, website and platform regulation, and commercial transactions and other matters common to the operations of for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid start-ups. Students in the ELC also design and run community outreach and other events designed to educate entrepreneurs about legal issues.
Students in the ELC work in teams of twos or threes and are, under the guidance of the ELC instructor, responsible for managing their assigned case files, and are expected to balance their work on multiple files, schedule client and supervisor meetings, and maintain healthy relationships with teammates, clients, and supervisors.
The ELC will be offered in both the Fall and Winter terms of the 2025/2026 academic year. Students will be accepted into either the Fall or Winter term.
APPLICATION INFORMATION
Enrollment into the ELC is through application and interview only. Application is open to upper-year students who have completed LAW 599: Entrepreneurial Law & LAW 451: Corporations Law or are enrolled in these courses in the Fall of 2025.
To apply, please fill out and submit this form. To complete the application, you will need to supply a resume or CV and a one-page cover letter explaining why you are interested in registering for the ELC and indicating whether you meet the pre-requisites/co-requisites for enrollment in the clinic.
The application deadline is April 11, 2025. Students who make the shortlist will be invited for a chat with the ELC team between May 6-9, 2025. The ELC team will aim to complete the application process and make final decisions by May 16, 2025.
For more information about the ELC, please attend the virtual ELC information session on Thursday, March 20, 2025 at noon or visit our website. For questions, contact lawentcl@ualberta.ca.
SPECIAL COMMENTS
Description updated 2025-26. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.
This course may not be repeated for credit.
REQUIRED TEXTS (IF ANY)
None