Operating like a small private law firm, this clinic will provide students interested generally in business law practice and/or in specializing in affordable housing and community development law with practical skills training in many of the core skills required in any transactional legal practice, including interviewing, counseling, drafting and negotiation. Under the supervision of the clinical faculty, students will represent low-income entrepreneurs, as well as a wide variety of nonprofit organizations engaged in community development activities. In their cases, students will have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of legal matters for their clients. These may include entity formation (both for-profit and nonprofit); obtaining tax-exempt status for nonprofit clients and providing ongoing tax compliance counseling; negotiating and drafting contracts; and representing clients in community development transactions. All enrolled students will be required to provide a minimum of 100 hours of legal work per semester and to participate in weekly group training meetings. For the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year, we expect that the seminar component of the Clinic will be taught in an online-only format. To the greatest extent possible, however, our work with clients and with each other, including supervision meetings, will be in person. For students who either elect not to return to Durham or who are not able to participate in the Clinic on an in person basis, you will still be able to participate fully in the Clinic, just on a remote basis.
Clinics Enrollment Policy
Important:
- This course may not be dropped after the first class meeting.
- Students MUST be able to attend the day-long clinic intensive training session to enroll in this course.
- International LLM students who wish to enroll in a clinic must seek the permission of the clinic's faculty director prior to the enrollment period. Permission is required to enroll but permission does not constitute entry into the clinic.
Ethics Requirement
Students are required to have instruction in the Model Rules of Professional Conduct prior to, or during, enrollment in the Community Enterprise Clinic. The following ethics classes meet the requirement: Ethics of Social Justice Lawyering (LAW 237), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering (LAW 238), Ethics and the Law of Lawyering in Civil Litigation (LAW 239), Criminal Justice Ethics (LAW 317) and Ethics in Action (LAW 539).
Enrollment Prerequisite
Any ethics course (Law 237, Law 238, Law 239, Law 317, or Law 539)
Course Areas of Practice | |
Evaluation Methods | Group project(s) Practical exercises Live-client representation and case management Class participation |
Degree Requirements | |
Course Type | Clinic |
Learning Outcomes | Legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context Other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession |