About the Clinic
The Law & Entrepreneurship (L&E) Clinic (Room 4314) provides free legal services to nascent entrepreneurs and early stage companies through the work of law students supervised by faculty and private sector attorneys.
The work of the L&E Clinic closely traces the dynamic evolution of the Madison startup community. Since the creation of the L&E Clinic, we have helped thousands of founders, creators and inventors start innovative businesses. Those businesses have grown along with us.
Today, we are known throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Madison and beyond for ushering promising, innovative companies through the early stages of their business life cycle.
At A Glance
~300
clients each year
9,905
billable hours in 2020-21
75%
past clients still in business
Legal Advice for Entrepreneurs
Learn more about the free legal advice that we provide to nascent entrepreneurs and early stage companies.
Form your business.
The first step for most founders is to select and form a business entity.
We advise clients on the type of legal entity that best suits their goals by reviewing their funding strategies, ownership models, business plans and tax exposure.
We then follow up to be sure the correct legal documents are properly filed.
Shape your intellectual property portfolio.
We help entrepreneurs add value to their early-stage enterprise by providing a solid footing for their intellectual property (IP) portfolio.
Many of our clients have bold new inventions, brands and content that they want to protect as they bring their ideas to market. Our students and supervising attorneys routinely analyze the patentability of inventions, advise on trademark rights for brands and review content for copyright protection.
Set rules of the road for your online presence.
Sophisticated websites are at the heart of the business model for many of our clients.
We help our clients draft privacy policies that comply with legal requirements and effectively communicate how they protect sensitive data. We also build terms of service agreements designed to limit the liability of our clients and to ensure a great user experience for their customers and business partners.
Establish strong relationships with your employees and contractors.
Well-drafted contracts are a great way to build business relationships from a solid foundation.
We draft employment contracts and independent contractor agreements that:
- Protect the intellectual property and trade secrets of our clients
- Establish a clear scope of work to be delivered and terms of payment
- Specify what happens when a contract ends
We also offer additional services for established businesses, UW faculty & staff, UW athletes, and rural entrepreneurs.
Resources for Entrepreneurs
Additional Services
Office Hours
We hold regular office hours to provide general guidance and respond to questions.
Faculty Consulting
We provide a number of services free of charge to University of Wisconsin faculty and staff.
Name, Image & Likeness
We represent University of Wisconsin student athletes to review name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts free of charge.
Rural Entrepreneurship Program
The Rural Entrepreneurship Program is our initiative intended to support entrepreneurship outside of the Madison and Milwaukee areas.
Clinic Students
Our student attorneys act as business and corporate counsel to more than 250 clients each year. They provide a full range of services and work with clients from a broad range of industries and from across the state of Wisconsin.
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