This Guide introduces resources for handling legal issues. It covers topics ranging from business formation, intellectual property to controlling legal risk.

The courses selected can be audited for free and you can find the audit instructions for Coursera and Edx courses.

Structure: Building the Frame for Business Growth (Michigan State University)

Just like when building a house the foundation for your business provides the framework for success. A business built on weak structure will struggle to succeed. We'll address some of the most pressing issues that you as a business owner must face while constructing the proper framework for your business.

Legal Aspects of Entrepreneurship Specialization (University of Maryland)

Navigate the legal challenges facing entrepreneurs. Build the skills to understand and act on the legal issues encountered when creating and launching a new business, including three courses:

• Legal Foundations for Entrepreneurs

With the aspiring and active entrepreneur in mind, this course focuses on the foundational elements of law. We'll begin with an introduction to the nature of law and modern legal systems and sources. Initial priorities, including what legal activities you may pursue on your own, versus when and how to select and work with an attorney, are explored. Business formation choices and considerations are also central points of discussion. Employment laws and liabilities are examined, with the closing topic being entering and exiting your business.

• Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs

For aspiring and active entrepreneurs, this course focuses on the opportunities and challenges of intellectual property. Intellectual property is a commonly discussed, often misunderstood, element of entrepreneurship and law. Knowing how to create and manage patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets is a valuable skill for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

• Legal Contracts and Agreements for Entrepreneurs

This course focuses on how legal contracts may impact or impede the success of aspiring and active entrepreneurs. We explore a wide variety of legal considerations, including:

What types of legal contracts and agreements are appropriate for which entrepreneurial activities and actions? What is the role of torts, liability, and negligence in creating and managing products and services? How should contracts and sales agreements be created, evaluated, and negotiated? And what legal considerations are applicable when raising financial capital?

Structuring Business Agreements for Success (Cornell University)

Do you know the components of a business agreement? Can you bridge the information gaps necessary to meet the needs of contracting parties? In this course, you will learn the laws, principles and guidelines to structure successful business deals to meet the needs of contracting parties.

Intellectual Property Law Specialization (The University of Pennsylvania)

Become fluent in the rules of the new economy. Learn how to use intellectual property law to protect and maximize the value of your innovations, including the following courses:

• Introduction to Intellectual Property

• Copyright Law

• Trademark Law

• Patent Law

Intellectual Property (Kauffman Foundation)

Patent Lawyer Peter McDermott Discusses How intellectual property is a crucial asset of every company, and why it is never too early in the life of a company to consider how to make the most of it.

Intellectual Property Basics (University of Michigan)

Bryce Pilz, a Law Professor at the University of Michigan delivers this series of short videos designed to guide entrepreneurs through the important concepts of intellectual property during their startup. The series of 3-5 minute videos cover over 60 topics, including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the University of Michigan.

Introduction to Startup Law (Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Carnegie Mellon University)

Presenters: David Lehman, K&L Gates, and Reed McManigle, CMU CTTEC. Join us for a lightning round of Q&A with top startup and intellectual property lawyers. We will kick off the evening with a quick overview of the most common startup legal issues: contract law, IP protection, raising capital, entity formation and employment law and exit planning. Then you’ll get to ask YOUR most pressing legal questions.

Why Startups Should Consider Litigation Risks (HuschBlackwell)

A legal battle can be lengthy, expensive, and create bad publicity. Startups are experiencing a rise in litigation and the webinar will focus on three growing risks to startups and provide practical steps to prevent these types of lawsuits.

Startup and Accelerate Webinar Series (Morgan Lewis Firm)

A resource center of analyses and thinking related to startup and how you can quickly begin moving your venture forward, Including:

• Get Up and Go – Navigating Startup Issues

This webinar addresses timely subjects and tips for successfully guiding you through important formation matters, including business entity selection, agreements among founders, early-stage financing structures, and advice for avoiding common mistakes

• IP Landscape of AI Hardware Startups

The webinar provides an overview of current trends in hardware technologies for artificial intelligence (AI), and competitive landscape, detail patenting strategies of startups, and alternate IP strategies adopted by AI hardware startups

Why You Need a Lawyer (eCornell - Cornell)

Establishing the appropriate legal structure is a key component of launching a new business, but most entrepreneurs have neither the resources nor the time to focus on legal matters.

Startup Legal Mechanics (Y Combinator)

YC Partners Carolynn Levy, Jon Levy, and YC General Counsel Jason Kwon discuss legal mechanics for startups, in addition to common mistakes and problems.

Tips on Company Formation and Fundraising (Y Combinator)

This hour-long episode of the podcast is focused entirely on the basics of company formation and fundraising. Aaron Harris was joined by three of his fellow Y Combinator partners, YC's CFO Kirsty Nathoo and YC's general counsel Carolynn Levy and Jon Levy, to talk about the key financial and legal basics that founders should keep in mind when establishing a startup and raising early funding rounds.

• BizFilings Business Owner's Toolkit
  The Business Owner's Toolkit is a highly substantive site. Major chapters include Startup, Marketing, Finance, Running A Business, Office & HR, and Tax Center. The Tools & Forms section provides links to checklists, model business plans, forms, and other documents.

• Nolo.com Self-Help Law Center
  Nolo (Berkeley, CA) has been a publisher of plain-English legal books, software, and forms for nearly 30 years. Everything published is regularly revised and updated by a staff of lawyer-editors. This site provides articles (with a sense of humor!) on almost any legal topic. The business encyclopedia contains information on business plans, financing, obtaining a business license, marketing, taxes and buying and selling a business.

• USPTO Inventor and Entrepreneur Resources
  Resources for inventors and entrepreneurs from the United States Patent and Trademark Office

• Penn Law Startup Kit
  The ELC StartUp Kit provides forms and tools for entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses.

• Starting a Business: License and Permit Checklist (FindLaw)

• Apply for licenses and permits (SBA)

Click the link to find a Worldcat book record; enter a zipcode to check which library nearby has the book you can borrow. When the record is not available, a link to Amazon is provided.

• Bagley, Constance E, and Craig E. Dauchy. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Law and Strategy. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2018. Print.

• Kontos, Stephen. The Founder's Guide to Intellectual Property Strategy: How Successful Startups Protect Great Ideas to Secure a Competitive Advantage. 2021. Print.

• Mouratova, Ekaterina. STARTUP LAW. : A Legal Guide for Entrepreneurs Working on a Startup Venture, 2017. Internet resource

• Pakroo, Peri. Starting & Building a Nonprofit: A Practical Guide. 2021. Print.

• Swegle, Paul A. Startup Law and Fundraising for Entrepreneurs and Startup Advisors. 2020. Print.

Read More Books on This Topic

• Patent and Trademark Resource Center
  Patent and Trademark Resource Centers (PTRC) are designated state, academic, and public libraries dedicated to disseminating patent and trademark information and support the intellectual property needs of the public. New Jersey's PTRC's are in Newark and Piscataway.

Regional Legal Clinics

• Penn State Law Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic

The Penn State Law Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic allows students to represent entrepreneurs, startups and nonprofit organizations in a setting similar to a small law firm. Under the direction of Professor from Practice Tom Sharbaugh, students provide legal services to the clinic’s clients in much the same manner as practicing lawyers.

• Legal Center for Low-Income Entrepreneurs (Northeast Ohio)

Legal Aid's Center for Low-Income Entrepreneurs began in November 2019. The launch was supported by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland's Innovation Mission and the Thomas White Foundation. The Center is designed to provide specialized support for Northeast Ohio’s underrepresented, underserved, and low-income entrepreneurs.

• Legal services for startups in Buffalo (Western New York)

The center will serve student and faculty startups and entrepreneurs at the University at Buffalo and partnering organizations Roswell Park Comprehensive Care Center, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, the Jacobs Institute, Kaleida Health and the Western New York Incubator Network (WIN). Companies should be at an early stage (pre-financing) in need of assistance with legal matters and are either unable to afford or not ready for traditional legal services.

To find free legal assistance in your area, search entrepreneur (or startup) legal centers (or clinic) with your location.