The UNC School of Law Institute for Innovation, now in its third year, is comprised of 3 clinics that teach students to provide early-stage legal counsel to new for-profit and nonprofit ventures.
Startup NC Law Clinic
Under the leadership of Professor Marjorie White, students in the Startup NC Law Clinic represented startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses from across the broad spectrum of North Carolina’s industries in their business law needs, often at the formative stages of business creation. In the 2020-2021 school year, the clinic completed approximately 40 projects for 20 clients. Among the clients were a Native-American owned building contractor, a disabled veteran-owned distributor of environmental clean-up products, a compostable takeout container business, an artisanal cheese and meat caterer, and an e-commerce hip-hop music trivia game.
Community Law Development Clinic
The Community Law Development Clinic supervised by Professor Tom Kelley provides corporate and transactional counsel to community-based North Carolina nonprofit organizations. During the 2020-2021 school year, the clinic represented a total of 31 clients on approximately 47 different legal matters. Among the clinic’s clients were a sustainable food nonprofit, a student-run organization that uses coffee retailing to create training and job opportunities for people with special needs, a music education nonprofit, a child advocacy organization, a company that trains underemployed women in the construction trades and an organization that advocates on behalf of refugees.
Intellectual Property Clinic
Students in the Intellectual Property Clinic provide general intellectual property counsel to individuals, early-stage companies, and nonprofit organizations. Each student received limited recognition to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) by the Office of Enrollment and Discipline. Students engaged in every aspect of client representation from client intake and interview to filing trademark applications and related documents with the USPTO. During the 2020-2021 school year, the clinic represented seven new clients and 13 existing clients with new and ongoing work. Because the IP Clinic’s clients often had multiple needs, over 30 separate matters (each representing a different project) were opened for the year.
