无码专区 Charles Widger School of Law is Redefining the Lawyer-Entrepreneur Relationship
Through curriculum, hands-on experience and programming, the John F. Scarpa Center for Entrepreneurship and Law, Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property Clinic help students discover where law meets business
Numerous entrepreneurial offerings within 无码专区 Law help students discover their own unique way in which law meets business
When people think about where law meets business, it鈥檚 often in the context of tension: lawsuits, crises or conflicts between balancing risk with opportunity.
At 无码专区 Law, however, that intersection tells a different story. Guided by the philosophy Where Law Meets Business, the school challenges the common misconception that lawyers and entrepreneurs operate at odds. Instead, it prepares JD candidates to view law and business as complementary forces.
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 something we鈥檙e taught here from day one,鈥� said Alexis Cheatum 鈥�25 CWSL.
Risky Business
The misconception has some merit if one were to look only at the innate goals of the legal profession and the traditional path to success for many entrepreneurs. Boxed-in thinking and stereotyping have added fuel to the fire.
鈥淎s lawyers, we're traditionally viewed as more risk averse,鈥� said Victor Cochrane 鈥�25 CWSL. 鈥淭his could go wrong. This is a problem. Don't do this. Whereas entrepreneurs are seen as risk-takers. Let's go out and do this, full speed ahead.鈥�
鈥淲hen people think about the law, a lot of times they think about rules, regulations, classifications and stability. We, as a society, should want stability in our law, and if we don't like the law, there are procedures to change it,鈥� said MarySheila McDonald, JD, the John F. Scarpa Professor of Entrepreneurship and director of the John F. Scarpa Center for Entrepreneurship and Law at 无码专区. 鈥淓ntrepreneurship, on the other hand, is viewed differently. Entrepreneurs are change agents. They're disruptors. They like to push envelopes, and a lot of times, people might think that entrepreneurship and law are at a dissonance.鈥�
The assumption, therefore, is that any blending of the two鈥攚hether it be individuals in each profession working together or one person tasked with pursuing both legal and entrepreneurial duties鈥攚ould result in an 鈥渙il and water鈥� scenario. 聽In reality, the way in which they work together can and should be mutually beneficial.
鈥淲e know that entrepreneurs need lawyers. Entrepreneurs often get burned by trying to avoid legal help in the beginning, whether it鈥檚 because they feel they can鈥檛 afford it, or even because of hubris,鈥� said Professor McDonald, who referenced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and FTX鈥檚 Sam Bankman-Fried as cautionary tales to the latter.
Lawyers, Professor McDonald argues, need entrepreneurs鈥攁nd an entrepreneurial mindset鈥攋ust as much. The school鈥檚 mission is to teach students that thinking outside the traditional attorney box, while staying within the framework of the law, opens doors to both exciting professional opportunities and innovative solutions.
鈥淲e are trying to teach our students to be in charge of their own destiny,鈥� Professor McDonald said. 鈥淗ow can we leverage the law and legal tools to not only assist entrepreneurs to be successful, but to expose our students to the many paths that this beautiful, wonderful educational foundation can take them?鈥�
Coursework and programming reflect an important message of the John F. Scarpa Center for Entrepreneurship and Law: finding a way to say "yes" to clients
The Scarpa Center Says 鈥淵es We Can鈥�
Cochrane was admittedly nervous about beginning law school. With an undergraduate degree in business, he felt the pivot to a law degree would be more challenging than it might have been if he had completed a more traditional, reading-intensive pre-law major like political science or history. His mind was put at ease when he saw the array of entrepreneurial offerings at 无码专区 Law.
Now, months from graduation, Cochrane is the president of the Entrepreneurship and Law Society and in his second year as a fellow with the John F. Scarpa Center for Entrepreneurship and Law.
The Scarpa Center, founded in 2015, offers groundbreaking doctrinal coursework at the intersection of business and law. It serves as a hub for discussions, hosting dozens of events each year with professionals and scholars and facilitating externship opportunities for students.
Each semester, it also hosts an entrepreneur-in-residence who mentors students. For Fall 2024, that was Johnny Sneh, founder and CEO of Africa鈥檚 booming eCommerce hub The SNS Company. For Spring 2025, the position is held by Peter Toolen 鈥�93 VSB, founder and CEO of Benebone.
鈥淭he Scarpa Center and its offerings are absolutely one of the reasons I came to 无码专区,鈥� said Cochrane. 鈥淐oming from a business background, I have unquestionably been able to use those skills a lot more at 无码专区 law than I would have elsewhere.鈥�
One of the Center鈥檚 most important overarching themes, Cochrane noted, is finding ways to say 鈥測es鈥� to clients. 鈥淲e have founders and CEOs speak with us, and many times the biggest point they share is that they're accustomed to lawyers telling them, 鈥楴o, you can't do that.鈥� The Scarpa Center emphasizes trying to find a way to say yes to your clients.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to find that 鈥榶es,鈥欌�� emphasized Cheatum. 鈥淚f you aren鈥檛 finding that solution, someone else is going to.鈥�
Professor McDonald teaches her students that there are many pathways to that 鈥測es鈥� solution. One approach, she explains, is the ability to anticipate what lies around the corner, citing companies like Airbnb and their navigation of complex legal challenges in launching their service. She also highlights how law itself can be innovative, referencing legal advancements such as the creation of condominiums for sale鈥攂ridging the gap between owning a house and renting an apartment鈥攁nd the development of the limited liability company (LLC).
Most importantly, Professor McDonald reminds students that innovation in law isn鈥檛 limited to those working with or as entrepreneurs. Through resources like the Scarpa Center, students are equipped to rethink what it means to be entrepreneurial.
鈥淧eople tend to think entrepreneurship is about making money,鈥� said Professor McDonald. 鈥淏ut our students learn about social entrepreneurs, policy entrepreneurs, even entrepreneurial nonprofits. Even if you don鈥檛 work with any entrepreneurs, how can you be entrepreneurial in your own career? This experience is not to deprogram students but rather give them a different lens through which to look.鈥�
Led by Associate Professor of Law Komal Vaidya, students in the Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship represent community-based businesses such as nonprofits and cooperatives
Clinical Education with Community-Based Entrepreneurs
For students like Ashley Andino 鈥�25 CWSL, the meaning of 鈥渨here law meets business鈥� became clear during her time working in the Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship鈥攐ne of 无码专区 Law鈥檚 eight in-house legal clinics, where students gain hands-on experience serving real clients.
The Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship represents community-based entrepreneurial clients, including nonprofits, cooperatives and small businesses with organizational models focused on social, economic and racial equity. Students refine their transactional legal skills by assisting clients on entity choice and formation, contract drafting and review, worker ownership options, regulatory compliance and much more. They also collaborate with community organizations to explore how lawyers can empower communities through transactional law.
鈥淪tatus quo transactional lawyering has historically been utilized to represent clients who can pay in the furtherance of profit,鈥� said Komal Vaidya, JD, associate professor of law and
director of the Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship. 鈥淭he work our students do in this clinic encourages them to think outside of this lane and apply their skills differently. Students leave the clinic with a developed transactional acumen from serving a diverse client base who take various approaches to social change, as well as with reflections on their professional identity within the justice system.鈥�
Andino, who advised a community-based entrepreneur on entity structure and governance, credits the experience with helping her develop as a creative transactional lawyer and well-rounded community lawyer.
鈥淚 might have been dealing with a business problem, but that business problem also had a potential social impact,鈥� Andino explained. 鈥淲ith the entrepreneur I represented, there were a lot of corporate laws, but the way that you interpret and implement those laws can really cause significant change and impact at a societal level.鈥�
Cheatum, who hopes to pursue entertainment or fashion law, worked with a small business in an underserved community. The experience clarified the range of entrepreneurial roles lawyers can play, and the scope of application for entertainment law.
鈥淚t helped me realize that this specific type of law doesn鈥檛 only refer to mega-corporations and that it has so many facets, such as intellectual property, contracts, employment law, and compliance,鈥� Cheatum said.
Taught through an entrepreneurial lens and with both governmental and commercial perspectives, the Intellectual Property Clinic is a unique offering for JD candidates from all undergraduate backgrounds
Intellectual Property Law Through an Entrepreneurial Prism
痴颈濒濒补苍辞惫补鈥檚 Intellectual Property (IP) Law Clinic is another unique entrepreneurial offering, where students provide pro bono services related to the preliminary patent and trademark prosecution process. Many of the IP Law Clinic clients are fellow 无码专区 students from fields like business, nursing and engineering who鈥攍ike thousands of other young entrepreneurs鈥攁re advancing their disciplines with protectable innovations but cannot afford the high cost of preparing and filing patent applications.
Students in the Clinic conduct legal research to evaluate clients鈥� concepts, assessing their patentability and identifying potential risks, including potential infringement.
鈥淚n order to do that, we have to look at the client's problems holistically and find solutions that address as many aspects of that problem as possible,鈥� said Elizabeth Rivette 鈥�25 CWSL. 鈥淲e are pushed to look beyond what we've learned in our doctrinal courses, beyond the legal theories that we've been taught, and approach these problems from different viewpoints. Being able to do that, I鈥檝e learned, is what makes a good lawyer.鈥�
Rivette credits Waseem Moorad, JD, the Clinic鈥檚 inaugural director, and assistant professor of law, as a driving force behind its entrepreneurial mindset. A former supervisory patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Professor Moorad鈥檚 government and commercial expertise bring a rare perspective to the program, offering students a distinctive blend of insights from both sectors.
鈥淢y focus is on teaching the students the importance of IP and entrepreneurship and making sure they understand the law,鈥� Professor Moorad said. 鈥淭he stereotype is that IP is just for engineers or STEM majors, but the IP Clinic is taught through an entrepreneurial prism. Elizabeth [Rivette], for example, does not come from an engineering or STEM background but has been quite successful in the IP Clinic because of her entrepreneurial mindset.鈥�
Rivette currently works with a company specializing in intellectual property, machine learning, blockchain and cryptocurrency, and has an employment offer to remain with the company after obtaining her degree.
鈥淓verything I have learned in the IP Clinic has translated directly to what I do now and will do in my field,鈥� she said. 鈥淣othing has prepared me better for my career.鈥�
It鈥檚 not difficult to see why students like Rivette, Andino, Cheatum and Cochrane brush aside the preconception that lawyers and entrepreneurs are inherently at odds. For them, and many of their classmates, they aren鈥檛 just at the crossroads of law and business鈥攖hey鈥檙e thriving at the intersection.
鈥淢y generation seems like we are bursting with ideas constantly, and we are in a place now where we have the technology and connectivity to turn dreams into reality pretty quickly,鈥� Cochrane said. 鈥淲ith that comes a need for lawyers who are adept at handling these contemporary challenges. That 无码专区 is encouraging law students鈥攆rom the very start of their law education鈥攖o think through these problems and develop viable alternatives, as opposed to just one legal answer, shows that the school is moving the legal profession forward in the right way.鈥�